Ultimate Guide to Orthotic & Medical Insole 3D Printing

Hospitals and podiatrists face many challenges with traditional production processes. Manufacturing custom medical orthotics require significant skill and labor to produce high-quality, accurate devices that provide the support prescribed by the podiatrist. The highly labor-intensive production methods to traditionally produce these devices drive high costs that must be passed onto the patient and lengthy manufacturing time that delays practitioners from deliverying the treatment plan.

3D printing is not new technology and significant advancements of 3D printing machines, 3D printing software, and elastic and tough resins are enabling on-demand production of highly accurate custom medical orthotics. With a better fit, shorter turnaround times, greater labor productivity, higher yield, and lower costs, there is a more positive experience for patients. Podiatrists can implement simplified workflows to produce custom orthotics on-demand with the right 3D printing solution.

Benefits of 3D Printing in Custom Medical Orthotics

Hospitals and podiatrists can see a range of benefits by adopting 3D printing as their primary production process:

Flexibility: 3D printers can directly print multiple custom orthotics products in a single batch. With a single process, hospitals and smart factories rapidly manufacture a range of custom medical orthotics, such as rigid, semirigid, and soft custom medical orthotics for adults and children. 

Accuracy: 3D-printed custom medical orthotics have comparable or are more accurate than traditionally manufactured orthotic devices. Advanced 3D printing software, hardware, and materials eliminate many of the manual steps during production required to achieve the required accuracy.

Higher Throughput: Today’s high-performance 3D printers use digital optical processes for medical device manufacturing to achieve fast printing speeds. Combined with a large build area and flexibility, modern 3D printers enable high-throughput batch production of multiple orthotic devices with elastic and tough resins.

Speed: 3D printers eliminate manual orthotic manufacturing processes like thermoforming, grinding, polishing, and gluing. Products easily print directly with very little post-processing. For example, the process of taking a patient foot scan to printing the custom medical orthotic device can be completed in less than a day for same day turnaround.

For instance, with advanced 3D printing processes and materials, hospitals and smart factories can directly custom medical orthotics on-demand and deliver them to patients with minimal lead time. With higher accuracy, the 3D-printed medical devices fit better and are more comfortable than traditionally manufactured devices.

LuxCreo's Custom Orthotics from Scan
LuxCreo's Custom Orthotics from Scan

3D Printing Workflow for Hospitals and Smart Factories

With digital 3D printing workflows, hospitals and smart factories can produce multiple products and streamline the production workflow. That accelerated workflow is similar to the following:

  1. Podiatrists provide the lab with foot scan, clinical assessment, notes on required features, and material specification

  2. LuxGen generative design software converts the scan into a full 3D model with lattice structures tuned to the stiffness and shape tuned the patient's needs.

  3. 3D printing software generates support structures for the desired printing orientation and fills the print volume to maximize the number parts per batch.

  4. The product prints directly using high rebound and resilience elastic material.

  5. Printed parts are washed, cured, and ready to use.

  6. The smart factory then ships the finished product back to the podiatrist or directly to the patient.

LuxCreo’s Printers, Materials, and Software

LuxCreo offers a comprehensive set of resins, advanced printing systems, and 3D printing software for hospitals, podiatrists, and service bureaus. LuxCreo’s printers and suite of materials are developed with a production-first mindset, enabling on-demand production with a simplified, efficient, and low manual overhead workflow.

3D Printers

LuxCreo offers multiple 3D printers for hospitals, podiatrists, and Smart Factories, including systems that use the patented LEAP process with DLP printers, to provide the highest throughput and accuracy for medical device manufacturing. The Lux 3+ supports high throughput batch printing of multiple medical devices, the iLux Series system is for lower volume production in labs or offices and Lux-Series is for Smart Factories . The LuxCreo integrated solution of DLP 3D printers with LEAP technology, advanced resins, and innovative 3D printing software, requires very little post-processing and enables minimal lead time to deliver medical devices.

Learn more about LuxCreo’s 3D printers for medical device manufacturing

Materials

LuxCreo’s line of specialized resins includes materials optimized for medical applications. Hospitals, service bureaus, and smart factories 3D print a range of medical devices including custom medical orthotics, diabetic footbeds, shoes, eyewear, and much more. LuxCreo’s materials have comparable or better strength and combined with the LuxCreo printers enables similar or more medical devices than ones made with traditional medical manufacturing processes.

Learn more about LuxCreo’s advanced resins

Software

LuxCreo’s suite of CAM software, LuxFlow, and LuxGen, are focused on simplifying the design and 3D printing production process for hospitals and smart factories for a broad range of medical devices. The LuxFlow software helps optimize model placement and orientation on the build platform to ensure maximum throughput. Additionally, it autogenerates structural supports and allows for manual adjustment by the user, and manual control over surface finish and z-axis control, eliminating excess base material. LuxGen simplifies the designing of directly 3D printed custom medical orthotics saving time and ensuring industry-leading accuracy.

Learn more about LuxCreo’s software for 3D printing

Reinvent Your 3D Printing Workflow

LuxCreo is changing the way hospitals, service bureaus, and smart factories do business by creating the most efficient digitalized workflow for manufacturing advanced custom medical orthotics. As a result, hospitals, service bureaus, and smart factories benefit from a streamlined workflow that reduces costs and improves outcomes for patients. 3D printing is now affordable, fast, and more accurate than ever, and companies like LuxCreo can provide printing systems, materials, and software to help hospitals, service bureaus, and smart factories transform business models, increase labor productivity, and scale their business.

LuxCreo’s patented LEAP™ (Light Enabled Additive Production) process enables mass customization manufacturing of highly accurate orthotic products from a range of specialized resins. Hospitals and service bureaus achieve flexible on-demand production in-house or in a Smart Factory with cloud-connected 3D printers with advanced high-performance materials. For more information on how our services can improve your supply chain and manufacturing processes, visit our contact page or call (650) 336-0888.