Multi-axis manufacturing strategies for personalized medical orthoses obtained by multi-material additive manufacturing

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Alexis CLAUDE, PhD student, COSMER (June 2022)

Mail : alexis.claude at univ-tln.fr

Office : IUT GMP, University of Toulon, Campus La Garde

Partner company

SEGULA Technologies

Funding 

CIFRE convention / SEGULA Technologies

Supervision  

  • Vincent HUGEL, University Professor, COSMER (Director),
  • Maxime CHALVIN, Associate Professor, University of Toulon, COSMER (Co-supervisor)
  • Sébastien CAMPOCASSO, Associate Professor, University of Toulon, COSMER (Co-supervisor)

Subject

In order to ensure optimal and painless support for patients, medical orthoses must be manufactured for each of them. Currently, manufacturing consists of making a positive model by machining from a digital scan of the patient or an intermediate cast, then manually thermoforming the orthosis from a plate that may be perforated afterwards. Thus, the manufacturing method makes compliance with the orthoprosthetist’s support recommendations approximate, while the design is largely dependent on the manufacturing range which offers little margin to improve, for example, comfort. SEGULA Technologies wishes to develop a multi-material additive manufacturing machine dedicated to the manufacture of orthoses, the concept of which has already been patented. Given the part geometries, the structure of the machine is based on a main rotation of the part around a horizontal axis, while additional axes will move the various deposition buses. The idea is to be able to manufacture a personalized orthosis – in a minimum of time to respond to medical emergencies – from a “positive model” type mold chosen from a standard range including a few sizes depending on the general size of the patient. . The collaboration with the COSMER laboratory of the University of Toulon aims to develop a dedicated digital chain and to finalize the integration of a prototype production means that best meets the needs of the orthotics manufacturer. This project is part of a larger project including work on the development of new polymer materials and the associated deposition parameters dedicated to this application.