A Review of Additive Manufacturing Studies for Producing Customized Ankle-Foot Orthoses

Abstract

Ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) are prescribed to improve the patient’s quality of life. Supporting weak muscles or restraining spastic muscles leads to smoother and more stable locomotion. Commonly, AFO are made using thermoplastic vacuum forming, which requires a long time for production and has limited design options. Additive manufacturing (AM) can solve this problem, leading to a faster and cheaper solution. This review aimed to investigate what is the state-of-art using AM for AFO. Evaluating the used manufacturing processes, customization steps, mechanical properties, and biomechanical features in humans would provide significant insights for further research. The database searches combined AM and AFO with no year or publication type restrictions. Studies must have examined outcomes on human participants with the orthoses built by AM. Other types of orthotic devices or different manufacturing techniques were excluded. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. As stated by having all studies conducted in the last nine years, this is a very recent domain. Different AM processes have been used, with the majority relying on Fused Deposition Modeling. Overall, the manuscripts’ quality is deficient, which is critical to promoting further studies with higher samples. Except for one paper, AM-printed AFO was comparable or superior to the thermoplastic vacuum forming AFO in mechanical tests, kinematics, kinetics, and participant feedback.

Assessment of Foot and Ankle Edema With a 3D Portable Scanner

“…Our sample of 29 subjects (58 feet/ankles) is broader than most samples studied in previous surveys (30 subjects in Labs and al [40], 20 limbs for the validation of the Perometer→ [10]; Tierney et al [ 27] reported on 20 leg segments). Furthermore, the validation of our scanner was carried out within a population in which very varied volumes were observed, ranging from 537. ensured that differences between the two methods were normal.…”

“…Knowing the exact volume, the difference in volume between the genders, the variation in volume over the course of a day or sports activities would be beneficial for the manufacture of shoes [10,11,12,13]. Once again, the medical field could improve the management of footwear for different foot morphotypes or conditions such as Cavo varus feet, progressive collapsing foot deformity or hallux valgus [14,15,16,17].…”

Materials and Manufacturing for Ankle–Foot Orthoses: A Review

“…This can take from 2 days to many weeks, depending on the amount of postprocessing required. [ 15,79,80 ] Additionally, the entire manufacturing process must be repeated if the AFO is destroyed or the patient's condition changes. [ 81 ]…”

Passive Articulated and Non-Articulated Ankle–Foot Orthoses for Gait Rehabilitation: A Narrative Review

“…Human walking is typically conceptualized as the repetitive movement of the limbs and is a distinctive feature of human locomotion, with each individual possessing a distinct style of walking [ 1 ]. Humans with conditions that affect the hip, knee, or ankle bones, nerves, muscles, or joints may have difficulties in walking.…”