POSSIBILITIES AND PROSPECTS FOR PROVIDING PATIENTS WITH NEW GENERATION ORTHOPAEDIC DEVICES
Birutė Sinkutė, Minvydas Gražulevičius, Vaida Keršienė, Zigmas Bolzanas
St. Ignatius Loyola College, Kaunas, Lithuania
Keywords: braces, 3D printing, Digitsole equipment, orthopaedic technical devices, foot.
Abstract:
Orthopaedic braces are widely used orthopaedic devices designed to stabilise joints, reduce pain, and facilitate rehabilitation after injuries, surgeries, or chronic diseases. The demand for these products is growing due to an increase in musculoskeletal disorders, an ageing population, sports injuries, and trends in preventive care.
Due to increasing demand for non-invasive treatments, the orthopaedic braces market in Europe is growing at 5-7 per cent per year. People over 65 years of age are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and spinal problems, which increases the need for back, foot, knee, and hip braces.
The increasing popularity of amateur sports (e.g., running, football) leads to more ligament injuries and post-operative rehabilitation that require the application of splints.
Technological progress enables the production of lightweight, „smart” splints with various sensors via 3D printing. The development of e-commerce (over-the-counter) makes splints easily accessible.
The need for orthopaedic splints is stable and growing, especially for preventive and rehabilitative purposes.
Research arm: to review the prospects and possibilities of providing patients with new-generation orthopaedic technical devices.
Research tasks:
- To reveal the need for orthopaedic technical devices.
- To discuss patient testing with Digitsole equipment.
- To explain new technologies for the production of orthopaedic braces.
Research methods: experiment, analysis of scientific literature.
DOI: