Article

Prefabricated orthotic devices are currently designed to fit a range
of patients and therefore they do not provide individualized comfort and
function. Custom-fit orthoses are superior to prefabricated orthotic devices from
both of the above-mentioned standpoints. However, creating a custom-fit orthosis
is a laborious and time-intensive manual process performed by skilled orthotists.
Besides, adjustments made to both prefabricated and custom-fit orthoses are
carried out in a qualitative manner. So both comfort and function can potentially
suffer considerably. A computerized technique for fabricating patient-specific
orthotic devices has the potential to provide excellent comfort and allow for
changes in the standard design to meet the specific needs of each patient.
METHODS: In this paper, 3D laser scanning is combined with rapid prototyping to
create patient-specific orthoses. A novel process was engineered to utilize
patient-specific surface data of the patient anatomy as a digital input,
manipulate the surface data to an optimal form using Computer Aided Design (CAD)
software, and then download the digital output from the CAD software to a rapid
prototyping machine for fabrication. RESULTS: Two AFOs were rapidly prototyped to
demonstrate the proposed process. Gait analysis data of a subject wearing the
AFOs indicated that the rapid prototyped AFOs performed comparably to the
prefabricated polypropylene design. CONCLUSIONS:
The rapidly prototyped orthoses
fabricated in this study provided good fit of the subject's anatomy compared to a
prefabricated AFO while delivering comparable function (i.e. mechanical effect on
the biomechanics of gait). The rapid fabrication capability is of interest
because it has potential for decreasing fabrication time and cost especially when
a replacement of the orthosis is required.

Langue : ANGLAIS