Fitting system

1. A method of identifying the differences in shape and the physical contact characteristics between an object and a body part which is engageable with the object comprising:

scanning the object with radiation in order to produce a surface map of the object;

attaching a plurality of bio-sensors to at least one of a surface of the object or to a surface of the body part at locations which are known relative to a reference point, engaging the body part with the object;

collecting bio-sensor data from the bio-sensors to record information on the engagement between the body part and the object over the surface of the object; and

superimposing the data from the bio-sensors over the surface map of the object in order to identify areas of the object which need to be adjusted in order to improve the fit of the body part with the object.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object is one of a prosthetic socket, an orthotic article, an article of furniture, or a wheelchair, and the body part is one of a stump of an amputated limb, stump of an amputated foot, a complete limb, a skin of a patient, a bottom sitting on a wheelchair, a back lying on a bed, or a liner covering at least part of the body.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scanning comprises:

projecting a radiation pattern onto the surface of the object with a radiation source at a first distance from the surface of the object;

taking as image data an image of the radiation projected onto the surface using at least one capturing element which is in a fixed and known position relative to the radiation source;

analyzing the image data from the capturing element to identify a position in three dimensions of each point illuminated by the projected radiation;

varying the distance of the radiation source from the surface in order to change the parts of the surface illuminated by the projected radiation;

using the data from the capturing element in order to identify the position of each new point illuminated by the projected radiation; and

repeating until all points on the surface have been scanned.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein locations of the plurality of biosensors is determined by illuminating the plurality of biosensors and capturing image data.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scanning is carried out by a radiation pattern as a projected laser pattern.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the collecting of data comprises one of data relating to pressure or temperature at the locations.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising displaying a 3D model of the mapped surface to a user with the bio-sensor data superimposed thereon.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising projecting onto the surface of the object a pattern which is calibrated to the surface map generated by a computer so as to enable a user easily to correlate the actual surface with the virtual surface and hence easily identify on the real surface areas of the object which need adjusting based on the bio-sensor information.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the object is a prosthetic socket and the adjusting comprises forming an interior surface of the prosthetic socket.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising using data from at least one motion unit to identify areas of the object which need to be adjusted in order to improve the fit of the body part with the object during movement.

11. An apparatus for identifying the differences in shape and physical contact characteristics between an object and a body part which is engageable with the object, the apparatus comprising:

a radiation source for scanning the surface of the object in order to produce a surface map thereof;

an adjuster for varying at least one of a distance or orientation of the radiation source the surface of the object;

a plurality of bio-sensors attachable to at least one of the surface of the object, to the surface of the body parts or to liners covering body parts at locations which are known relative to a reference point,

data collectors connected to the plurality of bio-sensors for collecting bio-sensor data from the plurality of bio-sensors;

data processing device adapted for superimposing the bio-sensor data onto the surface map to produce a bio-data profile map of the object; and

a display for displaying the bio-data profile map to a technician.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of biosensors are arranged as a bio-sensor strip comprising plastic films, power leads and data leads, a power and data connector, wherein the plurality of bio-sensors are disposed on the bio-sensor strip ( 821 , 921 ) and at least one power lead and data lead is connected to one or more of the plurality of bio-sensors and the at least one power lead and data lead are placed on the bio-sensor strip and are in contact with an interface component itself connected with a power supply and the data processing device.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the radiation source is a conical laser assembly which comprises a single point laser and an optical element which converts the single laser beam into a two-dimensional laser array.

14. An apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a capturing element associated with, and in a known position relative to the radiation source, the capturing element for detecting the radiation pattern on the surface and measuring the distance between a plurality of points illuminated by the radiation source and the capturing element, and a data processing device for processing the data from the capturing element and converting the data into a map of the surface.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the capturing element is arranged in a fixed position relative to the radiation source, the distance from the laser being known, and moves with the radiation source towards and away from the surface.

16. The apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of light sources for illuminating the surface of the object to identify locations of the plurality of biosensors.