Additive fabrication of custom pedorthoses for clubfoot correction

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the most‐practical means of transforming computer‐aided‐design models of custom clubfoot pedorthoses into functional pedorthoses for testing on patients in a clinical trial.Design/methodology/approachThe materials used in conventional orthosis fabrication are not yet available for solid free‐form fabrication; therefore, to fabricate the pedorthoses, several approaches were considered, including direct manufacturing, additive‐based moulding, laser cutting of foam and combinations of several of these approaches.FindingsThe chosen approach of additively manufacturing the custom hard shell, and moulding the polyurethane‐foam insert, resulted in accurate, durable and effective pedorthoses that fit well, and could be adjusted as needed. The pedorthoses that were produced are currently being tested on the respective patients for their improvement in mobility and degree of clubfoot correction, and will continue through early 2010.Practical implicationsAdditive manufacturing provides an ideal approach for generating the custom, end‐use hard‐ and soft‐layer patterns: each pedorthosis is truly unique; and the soft layer has regions of variable thickness. The advantage of this approach is the reduction in labour and the increase in degrees of design freedom available, compared to conventional methods of fabricating orthotic devices. Replacement inserts can be moulded in a matter of hours using this silicone‐moulding approach.Originality/valueSeveral new approaches for fabricating custom orthotic devices were explored, and the related results are discussed. The goal of this paper is to convey the potential of the fabrication procedure used and lessons learned on this project to the rapid prototyping and orthotic communities.

Additive manufacturing of custom orthoses and prostheses—A review

“…In this study, all feet geometry was obtained using a 3D scanner in the non-weight bearing conditions. Cook et al [9] utilized several AM processes to fabricate hard shells of custom FOs for clubfoot and a positive model of the soft inner layer. This positive model was used to fabricate a negative silicone mold to cast the polyurethane (PU) foam as the soft inner layer for the FO (Fig.…”

Pilot study of the wrist orthosis design process

“…Cook et al (2010) deals with finding the ideal way of reproducing the rather complicated variable thickness pedorthosis geometry and using appropriate materials. 3D scanning was used in order to obtain the geometry.…”

Advances in Orthotic and Prosthetic Manufacturing: A Technology Review

“…For this reason, RPT may be helpful in the orthoprosthetic industry, as these devices must adapt perfectly to the body, not only to accomplish their rehabilitative function, but to avoid disuse, as many of these devices produce blistering, ulcers, or discomfort [10,11]. These techniques have been already applied to the manufacturing of spinal braces [11,12], exoskeleton parts [13,14], and passive orthoses [15][16][17], and the application in the medical and dental industry represents one of largest serving industries in the world [18]. Moreover, RPT offer advantages in the design of custom orthotic devices ( Figure 1): The orthotic and prosthetic devices are highly customizable, as in Zuniga et al [19], it is possible to fit the devices to complex geometrical features, with high accuracy, and these devices are manufactured efficiently in terms of cost, lead-time, and product quality [20].…”