Design of a flexible neck orthosis on Fused Deposition Modeling printer for rehabilitation on regular usage
Nurbol Sabyrov, Zhuldyz Sotsial, Anuar Abilgaziyev, Desmond Adair, Md. Hazrat Ali
Abstract
The usage area of Additive Manufacturing (AM) already spread into the medicine and rehabilitation sphere. The advantages of AM become a driving force for fabricating prostheses, human organs, and implants. The recent studies in AM indicate excellent manufacture of limbs that possesses characteristics of market versions and, at the same time, outperform them in comfortability. Although there is a vast amount of investigation on orthosis development, only a few applications connected with neck orthosis. This paper proposes customized cervical orthosis designed through 3d scanner device and produced by Fused Deposition modeling. TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) FLEX filament used to provide the model with flexible features on par with the lightweight. FEA analysis assessment confirmed the durability of the prototype. Furthermore, the specific construction of orthosis allows patients to comfortably dress and utilize it in daily life, whereas the hole pattern of frame addresses ventilation problems. Obtained results indicate the capability of using TPE (flex) material and show that the FDM printed model able to compete with market analogs.