Spinal disorders, notably adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, are increasingly prevalent and recognized as a critical global health concern.
Orthotic treatment, which is common for mild to moderate scoliosis, faces challenges due to intricate traditional manufacturing processes that rely on orthotics expertise.
The industry urgently seeks digitalized, personalized manufacturing solutions.
Recent 3D scanning and printing advancements offer promising opportunities for improved orthotic alignment and effectiveness in scoliosis treatment.
- Overlooked Spinal Health Issues
Scoliosis is a three-dimensional abnormality of the spine, with factors such as genetic inheritance, poor posture, and spinal trauma contributing to its onset.
Adolescents represent a high-risk group for scoliosis, accounting for over 80% of all cases.
Changes in spinal shape can lead to posture abnormalities, degradation of cardiopulmonary function, and decreased muscle strength and endurance, significantly impacting adolescents’ physical and mental health.
- Traditional Orthotic Customization and Design Methods
About 90% of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis can be treated by wearing spinal braces, which are the primary and reliable non-surgical approach.
Although generic braces are cost-effective, they may not fit every scoliosis patient comfortably or align perfectly with their body, affecting compliance and treatment effectiveness.
Current traditional custom orthotic manufacturing methods often involve using models for production.
The manufacturing process is as follows:
(a) Measure the patient’s torso dimensions.
(b) Cast a plaster model.
(c) Trim the plaster.
(d) Preheat the orthotic material.
(e) Thermoform the material into shape.
(f) Adjust and shape the orthosis.
(g) Finish the orthosis.
The traditional custom orthotic-making process is complicated and has some distinct disadvantages:
- Requires high technical skills.
- Poor fit and accuracy.
- High material usage.
- Lengthy production.
- Expensive and not readily accepted by patients.
- 3D Scanning Solution Workflow
The integration and development of 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies have made new methods of diagnosing and treating spinal diseases possible. A spinal rehabilitation institution in Shanghai has been using the Revopoint 3D scanner to help treat scoliosis.
Step 1: Medical Imaging Diagnosis
When identifying a patient’s scoliosis issue, doctors may opt for X-rays (anteroposterior and lateral views) to assess the spine’s posture, curvature, and deformities. Typically, the severity of scoliosis is evaluated using the Cobb angle, with a larger Cobb angle indicating more severe scoliosis.
Step 2: 3D Scanning
In the above image, the doctor used the Revopoint POP 3 3D scanner to scan the patient’s body non-invasively, capturing 3D data crucial for rehabilitation diagnosis and assisting in orthotic design.
Critical Aspects of 3D Human Body Scans: Safety, Comfort, Contactless, Efficiency, and Precision.
Safety and comfort are paramount when 3D scanning people. Given the complex and elastic nature of the body’s surface contours, medical 3D scanning often requires patients to expose the areas being diagnosed. This necessitates the use of non-contact measurement methods to acquire surface 3D data. Revopoint 3D scanners use structured light technology, ensuring scans are contactless and harmless to the human body.
Efficiency and precision are essential for providing diagnostic services to patients. Efficiency minimizes the extra effort required from patients, while precision ensures the accuracy and consistency of scan results. With Revopoint 3D scanners, high-precision 3D data can be obtained quickly, reducing data errors from manual measurements, improving accuracy and fit, meeting orthosis design requirements, and ensuring better alignment with the patient’s body.
For healthcare professionals, Revopoint 3D scanners are user-friendly and can be directly connected to smartphones. By handheld scanning the upper body of patients, data can be rapidly acquired in less than half a minute. The resulting 3D models can be directly imported into professional design software, streamlining the manufacturing process and significantly enhancing workflow efficiency.
Step 3: Processing the Scan
The visual 3D model helps doctors observe the extent of curvature and severity of symptoms in the patient’s spine, aiding in developing appropriate treatment plans.
Step 4: Reverse Engineering
Step 5: 3D Printing
Finally, the designed model can be imported into a 3D printer for production, fulfilling the customization needs of orthotic supports.
- The Powerful Tool Digital Healthcare
The human body is intricately complex, and 3D scanning can quickly capture highly detailed and rich data. This enables the customization of prosthetics, orthoses, rehabilitation aids, and medical devices tailored to individual patients.
Simultaneously, 3D scanning is being explored in medical fields such as disease assessment, research, and clinical education. With ongoing technological advancements, it is believed that 3D scanning will make even greater contributions to the healthcare sector, providing patients with superior treatment options and leveraging technology for the benefit of humanity!