3D-printed ankle-foot orthosis: A design method

Additive manufacturing technology offers several advantages when compared to conventional manufacturing techniques, especially where large scale customizing is requested. This is particularly common for certain medical applications such as orthopedics, in which the efficiency of a treatment is strongly connected with each individual patient’s body shape. [1] An Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO) is an external medical device which helps a patient hold his/her ankle in the right position when the muscular/skeletal system is not sufficient alone (Fig. 1). The case study concerns a 21-year-old woman who had difficulties in walking after wearing a plaster cast for three weeks; an AFO would help her post-traumatic rehabilitation. The more the shape of the orthosis adapts to the patient’s body, the more comfortable and efficient the treatment will be. This paper describes a method to design a fully-customized Ankle-Foot Orthosis, taking advantage of 3D-scanning and 3D-printing techniques.