Application of Rapid Prototyping in the treatment of clubfoot in children

Rapid prototyping (RP) is a technique which produce 3D model of a part from the CAD model using the additive manufacturing technology. Unlike the traditional method of manufacturing, in this technique small layers are added on top of one another to form the final part. This allows rapid prototyping to create very complex parts in relatively less time period. In recent years this technique has been applied to medical field. Common RP techniques used in the medical field are Selective Laser Sintering, Fused Deposition Modeling, Multi-Jet Modeling and Stereolithography. But for most of the above methods, the working principle remains the same. The input data for model generation is obtained from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Computer Tomography (CT) scan which is converted to a 3D model by image processing software. This 3D model is converted to STL format which is read by the RP machine by creating thin slices of the model. Clubfoot, a challenging foot deformity generally occurs at birth, is caused by the abnormal posturing of the foot which becomes twisted so that the sole cannot be placed flat on the ground. The treatment for clubfoot should begin immediately, preferably in the first week of birth since the tissues, tendons, ligaments and bones of the new born's foot will yield to gentle pressure over time. The treatment involves manipulations and serial casting for correction and orthosis for maintenance. This paper focuses on the applications of rapid prototyping in designing a corrective orthosis which will replace serial casting in the treatment of Clubfoot in children. Rapid prototyping has proven to facilitate, speed up and improve the quality of procedures and products. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.