Bonding methods for strain gages on polypropylene material

This paper describes a method that has been found suitable for obtaining reliable bonding between conventional strain gages and a polypropylene ankle-foot orthosis (AFO). The AFO is an external assistive device used by a patient who has suffered a stroke. This device prohibits or constraints abnormal foot motions. The strain-gage mounting technique based on the UV light treatment of polypropylene surface was used successfully to instrument the AFO. Reliable bonding between the strain gages and polypropylene AFO was achieved when the surface is initially treated with UV light.