Andiamo Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Add More Patients to 3D Printed Orthotics Starter Program

The story behind Andiamo is one of heartbreak turned to inspiration and involves parents making huge strides in giving to others, as we found out late last year, reporting on the story of founders Samiya and Naveed Parvez and their Indiegogo campaign raising funds to bring streamlined, mobile 3D printing services for orthotics to kids in need everywhere.

Meeting with great success, they hit their goal by mid-November 2014 of £30,000, around $50,000 USD, and have continued to roll out new ideas, along with staying on track with their original goals. With a campaign on Kickstarter, they hope to raise $60,000 more to bring their beautifully designed 3D printed orthotics to children who might be currently struggling through the traditional process of being fitted for orthotics.

The founders, Samiya and Naveed, struggled through many years of having orthotics fitted for their late quadriplegic son Diamo, who died from complications due to cerebral palsy at age nine. As if challenges with the disease itself weren’t enough, while they attempted to improve his quality of life with multiple orthotics, they encountered excruciating processes in attempting to fit him for orthotics.

With the struggles of fittings, plaster, long waits to receive orthotics, growth spurts that rendered all their fittings useless, not to mention enormous expense, the Parvez family went through a very rough time. Their hope is to save as many other families as possible from experiencing the same difficulties they went through.

Their goal has been to use 3D printing to eliminate the problems in creating orthotics for kids, and to work with a small number of families each year with mobile 3D scanning and 3D printing units. With the processes they are developing, they are able to provide convenient home visits for doing a quick 3D scan, processing the data quickly, and providing a 3D printed orthotic within 48 hours.

Working with two families now, their goal is to spend this year prototyping and making a ‘blueprint’ for Andiamo. Along with that, they are keeping the momentum going with their new campaign, this time on Kickstarter, to raise $60,000 so that they can take on five more families and work with them. As 100 million families worldwide struggle with the traditional processes involved in having orthotics made, Andiamo is forging ahead to continue their efforts. Seven million of those families are in the US.

In hopes that the funds from the new Kickstarter campaign will help them to bring greater relief to families faster, Andiamo has kicked into high gear — and they have substantial support for the campaign by way of artists inspired by their story, as well as Maverick, a production agency from London that is making an animated video that grabs viewers’ attention a little better than the usual dry, informative explanations regarding campaigns and products.

They are currently working on storyboards for the video, which employs an effective concept, beginning in black and white with traditional methods being explained for orthotics fittings — featuring a simplistic video game. As they begin to explain the contemporary, mobile new methods they want to bring to families via 3D scanning and 3D printing, the video begins to transform into color and graphics become more complex. The founders of Andiamo and the two families currently involved in the process do voice-overs for the video.

The rewards are going to be exciting to check out as well, with artists Lorenzo Quinn and Amalia Ulman coming on board with designs that can be 3D printed, with models available as well. Italian artist Quinn has donated a sculpture representing ‘generosity and family.’ A new young and popular artist, Ulman, will be donating her work in jewelry by way of bracelets and necklaces inspired by Mexican charms. Both artists’ works will be available as rewards with .stl files so that supporters can 3D print them on their own, or through 3D Hubs free of charge. Quinn’s sculpture will be available as a 3D printed limited edition.

Check out 3D Hubs if you want to pledge but don’t have 3D printing capability. They have agreed to host 3D printing of files at no cost, and will also be promoting Andiamo’s new video.

Not only does Andiamo endeavor to bring 3D printed orthotics to children and families in need, they mean to make products that are beautiful works of arts in themselves with as much ‘invisibility’ as possible so children can have improved quality of life and feel good about themselves.

Andiamo has been testing their 3D printed orthotics systems and use of predictive data in clinics, and actually won the UK IBM Smart Camp. They are currently pitching at IBM Interconnect (Las Vegas) from February 22-26 to the Shark Tank judges.

Is this a Kickstarter campaign you are thinking about contributing to? Have you been following Andiamo’s progress and work? Share with us in the Andiamo Launching Kickstarter Campaign forum over at 3DPB.com.  If you’d like to back this latest campaign, you can do so here.

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