3D printing to heal broken bones

After breaking his hand during a fight, Evill was saddled with a plaster cast for a few months. “I was surprised by just how non-user friendly those cumbersome things are,” he said. “Wrapping an arm in two kilos of clunky, and soon to be smelly and itchy, plaster in this day and age seemed somewhat archaic to me.”

Evill figured there had to be a better solution, but there wasn't. So the young designer set about creating his own.

Called the Cortex cast, Evill’s new take on the plaster cast is a 3D-printed brace that follows the contours of the arm. Though still just a concept, Evill’s Cortex will be an injury-localized exoskeleton that is lightweight, washable, ventilated and recyclable. The young designer began by researching the structure of the bone. He found the trabecular, the tiny lattice-shaped structures that form the inner tissue of a bone, to be the perfect inspiration. “It was this honeycomb structure that inspired the Cortex pattern because, as usual, nature has the best answers,” he said. “This natural shape embodied the qualities of being strong whilst light just like the bone it is protecting within.”

Evill notes that the Cortex cast is still very much in the development stage. He’s currently working to nail down the optimal material for the cast and refine the scanning process. Next steps are working with a hospital to fully test the prototype and finding a manufacturer who can help make the Cortex Cast a reality. “There is much work to be done to bring the idea to fruition,” he says. “And I am actively seeking partners to work with in order to make it a reality.”

More info: http://www.evilldesign.com/

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/1sQAChs

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBRuOTCPGjM