Overview of 3D Printed Exoskeleton Materials and Opportunities for Their AI-Based Optimization

Abstract

An aging population, the effects of pandemics and civilization-related conditions, and limited leapfrogging in the number of rehabilitation and physiotherapy specialists are driving demand for modern assistive technologies, especially upper and lower limb exoskeletons. Patient-tailored devices are a rapidly developing group of technologies, both from a biomechanics, informatics, and materials engineering perspective. In particular, the technological development of 3D printing, the expanding range of available materials and their properties (including contact with living tissue and bodily fluids), and the possibility of selecting and optimizing them using artificial intelligence (including machine learning) are encouraging the emergence of new concepts, particularly within the Industry 4.0 paradigm. The article provides an overview of what is available in this area, including an assessment of as yet untapped research and industrial and, in part, clinical potential.