A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process

The possibility to realize highly customized orthoses is receiving boost thanks to the widespread diffusion of low-cost 3D printing technologies. However, rapid prototyping (RP) with 3D printers is only the final stage of patient personalized orthotics processes. A reverse engineering (RE) process i...

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Main Authors: Gabriele Baronio, Sami Harran, Alberto Signoroni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:Applied Bionics and Biomechanics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8347478
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author Gabriele Baronio
Sami Harran
Alberto Signoroni
author_facet Gabriele Baronio
Sami Harran
Alberto Signoroni
author_sort Gabriele Baronio
collection DOAJ
description The possibility to realize highly customized orthoses is receiving boost thanks to the widespread diffusion of low-cost 3D printing technologies. However, rapid prototyping (RP) with 3D printers is only the final stage of patient personalized orthotics processes. A reverse engineering (RE) process is in fact essential before RP, to digitize the 3D anatomy of interest and to process the obtained surface with suitable modeling software, in order to produce the virtual solid model of the orthosis to be printed. In this paper, we focus on the specific and demanding case of the customized production of hand orthosis. We design and test the essential steps of the entire production process with particular emphasis on the accurate acquisition of the forearm geometry and on the subsequent production of a printable model of the orthosis. The choice of the various hardware and software tools (3D scanner, modeling software, and FDM printer) is aimed at the mitigation of the design and production costs while guaranteeing suitable levels of data accuracy, process efficiency, and design versatility. Eventually, the proposed method is critically analyzed so that the residual issues and critical aspects are highlighted in order to discuss possible alternative approaches and to derive insightful observations that could guide future research activities.
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spelling doaj-art-30ae9290ecba4d0597709574bc5df7762025-08-20T02:07:55ZengWileyApplied Bionics and Biomechanics1176-23221754-21032016-01-01201610.1155/2016/83474788347478A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing ProcessGabriele Baronio0Sami Harran1Alberto Signoroni2Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Industriale, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyDipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Industriale, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyDipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyThe possibility to realize highly customized orthoses is receiving boost thanks to the widespread diffusion of low-cost 3D printing technologies. However, rapid prototyping (RP) with 3D printers is only the final stage of patient personalized orthotics processes. A reverse engineering (RE) process is in fact essential before RP, to digitize the 3D anatomy of interest and to process the obtained surface with suitable modeling software, in order to produce the virtual solid model of the orthosis to be printed. In this paper, we focus on the specific and demanding case of the customized production of hand orthosis. We design and test the essential steps of the entire production process with particular emphasis on the accurate acquisition of the forearm geometry and on the subsequent production of a printable model of the orthosis. The choice of the various hardware and software tools (3D scanner, modeling software, and FDM printer) is aimed at the mitigation of the design and production costs while guaranteeing suitable levels of data accuracy, process efficiency, and design versatility. Eventually, the proposed method is critically analyzed so that the residual issues and critical aspects are highlighted in order to discuss possible alternative approaches and to derive insightful observations that could guide future research activities.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8347478
spellingShingle Gabriele Baronio
Sami Harran
Alberto Signoroni
A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
Applied Bionics and Biomechanics
title A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
title_full A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
title_fullStr A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
title_full_unstemmed A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
title_short A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process
title_sort critical analysis of a hand orthosis reverse engineering and 3d printing process
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8347478
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