Latest insole creation. A variable density infill print from a foot scan in #Filaflex .
One of the avenues I am investigating is the problem of foot ulceration, common in diabetes sufferers. This can lead to a serious chain of events leading to over 6000 related amputations a year in the UK. It is estimated that about 80% of these are preventable. Treatment costs to the NHS in the UK are in excess of £650m/annum. It is hoped that a low cost custom insole that is sympathetic to the patients requirements could help dramatically in this scenario.
I see 3D printing taking the initiative and leading the solutions once again.
Dear Steve,
Looks very interesting !! Can you give more details about this project?
I have a similar case and i would like to use this technology.
Kind regards
@James_Armstrong@R_Heerema It is semi-automatic. I use Gimp and Inkscape to seperate out the regions, I then export .dxf files which can then be imported in to a cad programm (e.g. OpenSCAD). Once the curves have been turned into stls, then its over to Slic3r and using its modifier mesh option, different infill densities can be applied to different regions.
@R_Heerema The insole in the picture above does not have 3D form, it was my prototype showing variable density infill only. It is a uniform 10mm thickness. I did it this way so when the light shines through it, the density is not distorted by any change in the thickness.
However, I have also successfully created a 3D form foot surface from a 2D flatbed scanner. This will be my next “show and tell” And then the final piece will be to combine this with variable density infills, for a more complete solution using a cheap scanner and open source or free software from start to finish.
Steve, we have istep scanner and Dr boyner’s foot casting apparatus. since last six months we started foot care clinic, we have treated more than 500 cases of foot pain and diabetes. we do not have 3D printer with us. we make insole within an hour and almost all the patients are happy with it.
