Plastic mesh instead of plaster
"Gypsum" of the new generation will be printed on a 3D printer
Design student Deniz Karasahin from the Turkish city of Izmir received a prize at the 2014 A' Design Award, presenting a new generation "plaster cast" to the jury. Gypsum in it has been replaced with plastic, and volumetric printing technology is used for its manufacture.
To ensure immobility in the treatment of fractures and other injuries, doctors have used various means in the course of history. In antiquity, wax and resins were used. Starting from Celsus (about 25 BC – about 50 AD), starch is used to harden the dressing. In Arabic medicine, a mixture of egg white and lime obtained from shells was used. In medieval Europe, bandages were soaked with a mixture of egg white, flour, and animal fat. French military doctors of the Napoleonic Wars era began to actively use various types of immobilizing bandages.
In 1800, British diplomat William Eaton described a method of treating a leg fracture, which he observed in the Ottoman Empire, where a local doctor poured a damaged limb with plaster. The inventors and distributors of plaster dressings in Europe were two military doctors: the Dutchman Antonius Mathijsen (1805-1878) and Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881). Since their era, plaster casts have not changed much.
The design that the Turkish developer offers to replace the plaster is also durable, but due to the mesh shape it makes it possible to access air to the skin, which will prevent itching, which so torments many patients with fractures. In order for the "plaster" to perfectly match the shape of the patient's limb, a 3D scanner is used, and then a product is created using volumetric printing. To stimulate fracture fusion, the bandage is equipped with an ultrasonic wave generator. An ultrasound session lasting 20 minutes a day reduces the healing time by 38% compared to a traditional plaster cast.
Photo: A' Design Award
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25.04.2014