Lightning Speed” Prototyping with Additive Manufacturing - Case Study

The Opportunity

Improve non-surgical treatment of clubfoot birth defects for more than 200,000 children each year.

Dr. Thomas Cook, the co-founder of the 501(c)(3) Clubfoot Solutions, saw an opportunity to significantly improve the traditional approach to correcting clubfoot birth defects.

Cook, who serves as professor emeritus for the University of Iowa College of Public Health, wanted to improve the design of the "Iowa Brace," a simple plaster casting technique that was pioneered by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti in the 1950s. The Iowa Brace was designed to be worn during treatment to hold the child's feet in the correct position." The original static model consists of two platforms, one for each foot, and lightweight mesh booties connected by a fixed bar. While the device is extremely effective, the brace's fixed connecting bar significantly limits mobility and keeps young children from moving independently.

Cook reimagined the Iowa Brace with an articulating platform so that children could move their feet and stretch their muscles while still maintaining the correct therapeutic position of the foot platforms.

When he saw that his design concept would require a great deal of testing and iteration, he turned to Protostudios, the on-campus lab specializing in medical device prototyping and 3D printing, to make it happen.