Scalable direct manufacturing of a functional multipurpose wrist-hand orthosis using 3D printing

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most debilitating injuries with no direct cure. Managing SCI thus becomes a critical task for caregivers and most importantly patients, whose lives are severely hindered both physically and psychologically. Injury at different parts of the spine corroborates to partial or complete motor loss at one or more parts of the body. The current paradigm of recuperative techniques aim at effective splinting coupled with a consistent rehabilitation regimen. This work focused on the development of a novel wrist-hand orthosis using 3D printing to aid patients inflicted by C5-C7 SCI which causes loss of motor function at the distal ends of the upper extremity. An optimized development framework was presented to achieve quick production times, scalability, ergonomics and minimal post processing activities to produce an ultra-low cost orthotic device (∼$2). The Print in Place (PIP) method was employed to diminish all post processing and assembly operations. A unique compliant wrist brace mechanism was introduced. The developed assistive device was assessed via Finite Element Analysis (FEA) prior to manufacturing and the same was verified experimentally, post-manufacturing. Overall, the developed device was found to successfully sustain the designed load requirements. It was anticipated that the use of the aforementioned methods and techniques could greatly enhance the scalability and affordability of 3D printed orthotic devices, especially in low and middle income countries where SCI cases are not only highly prevalent but also neglected, escalating the severity of injury.