This 3D-printed cast shapes to your arm-and makes healing a broken bone more comfortable

"Clinicians need to avoid wrapping casts too tight or too loose, where both scenarios would cause healing complications such as pressure injuries. If there are problems, or as the cast loosens over time, patients have to come back to the doctor for a recast-with the hospital or clinic footing the bill."

"To apply the cast, the medical team first heats it up to become soft and flexible. Then a doctor wraps it around the arm and clips it together with small built-in buckles. As it cools, it hardens in place. The traditional process, by contrast, takes 10 different steps and multiple materials, and it's easy to make mistakes."

"While the cast is around 30% to 50% more expensive to make than a traditional fiberglass version, the time savings-and the fact that it's possible to avoid redoing the cast-can mean that clinics end up with a lower overall cost. In one trial, a hospital in Singapore has had an average of 25% cost savings."

Castomize, a Singapore startup, has developed an innovative 3D-printed cast that addresses major limitations of traditional fiberglass casts. The open, waterproof design allows patients to shower and swim comfortably. The application process is simplified: doctors heat the cast to make it flexible, wrap it around the affected limb, and secure it with built-in buckles. As it cools, it hardens in place. This eliminates the complex 10-step traditional process and reduces errors like improper tightness that cause healing complications. While 30-50% more expensive to manufacture individually, the casts reduce overall costs through time savings and reusability. One Singapore hospital achieved 25% average cost savings. The company uses "4D printing" technology, incorporating time as a dimension since the product changes shape after printing. Future plans include sanitization processes enabling repeated reuse across different patients.

Read at Fast Company