Embrace Corset a 3D printed orthopedic corset

How can a 3D-printed orthopedic corset, spinal brace, or body jacket obtain the same properties as a manually crafted one?

Together with trusted professional partners, Create it REAL launches a new digital manufacturing technology to produce individual corsets, including 3D printing.

Besides moving away from traditional labor-intensive manufacturing, our 3D printing solution for customized corsets also introduces remarkable features for the user’s benefit and a circular economy scheme.

New digital manufacturing technology

Our solution allows for designing customized corsets with gradient stiffness and more flexible zones. Ventilation zones with defined holes are also an option. The technology enables the professional to define different areas and 3D print in one workflow.

Hence, you avoid time-consuming efforts in manually modifying the corset with modifications and many materials combined and glued together. An optimized workflow will give the orthopedic workshop more time for the end user.

Read on for details on how our automatic REALvision Embrace software works. And how value is added to the production workflow and for the end-users.

Embrace CorsetMaker

Great user benefits

Our corset is 3D-printed and lightweight, and the end-user will experience comfort and support via different stiffness zones.
User benefits

User-friendly software

You can modify the parameters for printing the corset and change the stiffness zones or infill types to optimize the final result.
REALvision Embrace

How to get started

You are not alone. Join a mutual partnership with Create it REAL and get a solution custom-made for your business.
Learn more

Traditional crafting

Orthopedic professionals spend a tremendous amount of time supporting and guiding patients that suffer from spinal and posture problems such as scoliosis. Once they find that a spinal brace, a body jacket, or an orthopedic corset is the best-suited solution to relieve and support the patients, they start capturing measurements and designing the corset before manufacturing can commence.

Typically, the production of a corset requires high knowledge and experience. Additionally, it takes a significant amount of time to craft a nicely fitting corset manually, and the process includes various technologies and machinery such as plastering, molding, and light milling.

Orthotics & Prosthetics print service

Get your seat, corset, socket, or cast 3D printed in top quality. We use your own custom design and meet your requirements for material, strength, quality, and functionality.

Great user benefits from 3D print

Our 3D-printed corset can be printed lightweight, and the end-user will experience advanced comfort and support via different stiffness zones. Our 3D-printed corset fulfills the medical requirements and is made with certified polypropylene material. The 3D-printed Embrace Corset provides ridged and flexible areas to correct the spine properly and in one material. 

  • Lightweight
  • Improve comfort with different strong and flexible zones
  • Can provide good ventilation with air holes

Furthermore, this solution supports the transition into a more sustainable way of manufacturing without generating significant waste.

Printed in polypropylene material

We use 3D print filament made from PP (PolyPropylene) material. Today, most customized corsets are made with PP, an approved material for orthopedic corsets.

From a manufacturing point of view, using the printing process limits the waste to zero, and with a recycling scheme of the corset, the environmental footprint is reduced significantly.

Another advantage of using additive manufacturing technologies with melting plastic parts as infill is that it ensures a no-dust production environment. There is no hindrance to operating the 3D printing production in a standard office environment.

After printing, the corset might have straps added like in traditional crafting.

Three steps to make a 3D printed corset

The production of a 3D-printed spinal corset is made in several steps:

  • First, we need a 3D model to make the design file. Typically, the patient must have a professional scan of the upper body made at an orthopedic clinic. A 3D scanner then collects all the data points and details from the patient into a 3D model.
  • Second, the scanned 3D model is loaded into a CAD design tool where the orthopedic specialist can modify it to fit the patients and provide support in the right places. The design model is enhanced by defining zones with different stiffness and when appropriate zones for ventilation.
  • Finally, the corset is printed on a specially designed 3D printer. The 3D printing technology is a simple-to-operate 3D FDM (fused deposition modeling) printer without requiring highly skilled crafting labor.

User-friendly REALvision Embrace

Start processing by importing the 3D models (from your CAD software) as an STL file of the corset in our professional REALvision Embrace 3D printer software. You can modify the parameters for printing the corset and change the stiffness zones or infill types to optimize the final result before making the 3D print file.

  • Stiffness mapping: Select from 3 options: SOFT, MEDIUM, FIRM
  • Ventilation mapping: Select from 3 options: LIGHT, MEDIUM, HIGH Airflow
  • Trim line: Select the width and properties for the edge area 
  • Printing time and material consumption
  •  

Unique CorsetMaker

Together with a partner, we provide the corset printing solution:

  • CorsetMaker
  • Corsetprinter optimized for high-end PP for a smooth result. 
  • Three-dimensional workspace:
    60cm x 60cm x 65cm
  • Material properties: Certified and approved PP filament
  • Automatic spool change system
  • Optional: white-labeled version of the 3D printing software

How to get started with 3D printing corsets

Additive manufacturing is still a young technology. Typically our clients come from traditional vacuum molding of corsets. The technology switch influences everything in your daily work with corsets. You may go from hiding the crafting in a dusty part of your workshop to putting it up front in the store.  With our specialists, we will guide you through the process of getting started by going through the following steps:
 
 
  • Define scope; how are you producing corsets today, and what do you wish to achieve?
  • Seeing is believing; we have a print service to make the first examples from your files, with your specifications.
  • Define a solution; together, we will find the best solution – do you have components like scanning devices, or CAD that can be integrated into the new solution?
  • Produce 3D corsets; we won’t leave you alone after installation and training. Expect to enter a partnership with regular follow-up meetings.

How to get started with 3D printed corsets?

Please feel free to reach out to our business developer Lene Jensen

Short return of investment period

Our 3D printing solution is attainable even for smaller O&P workshops making the return on investment period very short.
All you need to get started is 3D modeling software or an STL file, 3D printing software, the FDM printer, and filament. Talk to us about how to start with actual production, where the process is replicable, traceable, and validated. This solution is not for prototyping but will take you to actual output once installed at your premises.

Ready to join the 3D printing revolution?

We challenge the status quo, wasteful production processes, and traditional markets to adopt new materials and technologies. Mass customization is one of the most significant advantages of this technology, as it enables straightforward print service and production within a few days of delivery. Many people still calculate 3D printing as a prototype technology for hobbyists. We invite you as a professional CPO, clinician, or orthopedic technician to join us in the 3D printing revolution by rapidly producing printed products, such as the wheelchair seat, insole, or corset, cost-effectively and adding more value for the end user.