Atlanta VA First in U.S. Veterans Health Care System to Offer 3D Printed Casts & Splints

The potential for additive manufacturing (AM) in the military is by no means limited to applications like propulsion hardware, drones, and explosives. 3D printed medical devices, for instance, have attracted the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) interest for many years now, and that’s still where much of the U.S. military’s most impactful AM activity is happening.

The Atlanta VA Health Care System (VAHCS) has just announced one of the latest examples of that, becoming “the first VA facility” to offer patients the option of customizable 3D printed casts and splints. Atlanta VAHCS is utilizing the system made by ActiveArmor, a North Carolina-based company that has developed a method for producing casts and splints from ABS, mostly leveraging Fusion3 FDM 3D printers.

Atlanta VAHCS purchased its first two ActivArmor systems with funding made available by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) through a joint pilot program between the DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). ActivArmor devices offer multiple advantages over traditional casts, ranging from improved patient comfort to physicians’ enhanced ability to monitor patient progress. Bringing the capability in-house also significantly reduces patient wait time.

According to Atlanta VAHCS, the ActivArmor systems “can print everything from standard wrist, hand, thumb, ankle, and foot splints and casts to full-length casts for legs and arms.” The facility is already planning to purchase more systems in the future to expand the number of applications it can provide, with orthotic inserts and prosthesis check sockets figuring into Atlanta VAHCS’s future ActivArmor plans.

In a press release about Atlanta VAHCS becoming the first VA facility to offer ActivArmor devices to veterans, Gregory Doss of Atlanta VA’s Healthcare Technology Management Service Line, one of the heads of the project, said, “We are not only providing a more comfortable and hygienic alternative to traditional casts but are also empowering Veterans with a personalized device that fits their lifestyle.”

Meanwhile, Fred Brevard, Supervisory Health System Specialist to the Executive Director, said, “The Atlanta VA Health Care System is proud to lead this effort, setting a new benchmark for innovation in Veteran care. Every advancement like this strengthens our ability to deliver the exceptional, personalized service Veterans deserve.”

I had casts on multiple different occasions growing up, and aside from the fracture itself, the discomfort of bathing with a cast on was easily the worst part of the experience. So, even just in this one sense, ActivArmor has solved one of the biggest problems with the conventional way of making a common medical device.

Taking all the other advantages into consideration, ActivArmor has delivered an ideal AM use case: ActivArmor may be doing with casts and splints what clear aligners did to the orthodontia market. Given how many locales globally are in desperate need of medical supplies, there’s virtually endless opportunity for ActivArmor’s technology to make the world better on a case-by-case basis.

Going forward, it wouldn’t be surprising to see ActivArmor enter the space for deployable 3D printing solutions. Earlier this year, when Firestorm Labs and HP announced a strategic partnership, medical devices were one of the application categories the partners referenced as a catalyst behind their decision to collaborate.

With so much talk of dual-use applications, the Atlanta VAHCS story is an instructive reminder that dual-use goes far beyond things like aerospace components that can be used in both civil and military aircraft. In fact, the unique maturity of the AM market for medical devices suggests that this area of the industry is just as ripe as any other for exploring dual-use opportunities.

Images courtesy of Atlanta VAHCS