3D Printed Hand Splint.
During my Internship at iMakr 3D printing company, I am able to develop personal projects of my own alongside my professional responsibilities. With my strong interest of proceeding into a career in medical design, along with an unfortunate breaking of my 5th metacarpal, I decided to design a 3D printed hand splint for stable fractures.
This splint is designed to slide onto the users hand easily, whilst having a rigid structure which limits movement and enables healing.
The use of an organic Vorinoi pattern saves on both time and material during the printing process, without being detrimental to the structural integrity of the splint. The form of the splint allows the user to not have to worry about conventional limitations of plaster casts such as keeping the piece dry. My experience, in a plaster cast, washing was a particularly difficult task. Before showering I had to secure my arm in a watertight bag.
The new design, utilises the properties of ABS, which the design is printed in, enabling the splint to be wet without any ramifications (i.e. falling apart).
This splint is designed to slide onto the users hand easily, whilst having a rigid structure which limits movement and enables healing.
The use of an organic Vorinoi pattern saves on both time and material during the printing process, without being detrimental to the structural integrity of the splint. The form of the splint allows the user to not have to worry about conventional limitations of plaster casts such as keeping the piece dry. My experience, in a plaster cast, washing was a particularly difficult task. Before showering I had to secure my arm in a watertight bag.
The new design, utilises the properties of ABS, which the design is printed in, enabling the splint to be wet without any ramifications (i.e. falling apart).
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The development of the form of the cast.
Some of the issues that are present with plaster casts can be seen in this image on the right. The general cleanliness of a broken hand is difficult to upkeep, as the plaster cannot get wet. This results in sores and breaking of the covered skin. If the initial injury breaks the patients skin, the patient is automatically prescribed antibiotics to limit infection. Another benefit of a 3D printed replacement, is the skin would not be fully covered and able to breathe and heal naturally limiting infections.
Further testing and exploration would be needed to take this project into a working system. Collaboration with medical professionals would also allow this process to expand to other kinds of fractures and breaks. |
The process of printing a customised cast is one which could be introduced into hospitals with relative ease. Normally when someone breaks their hand, the A&E department of the hospital they visit, cast their hand temporarily after conducting various X-Rays and other checks on the patient. As part of these checks, a 3D scan of the patient’s hand could be introduced.
The scanning process takes only a few minutes to create a detailed mesh of the patient’s hand, around which a perfectly fitting cast or splint can be designed and printed. This could become an automated design process using such parametric design software as Grasshopper. The printing would take place between the initial treatment of the patient, and their follow up at the Fracture Clinic. 
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