An investigation report ondigital manufacturing of orthoses

Orthosesare important tools to help patients in rehabilitation andas well asfor theirself-care of disables in clinics. Traditionally, orthese are made manually, which is time consuming and error prone. Digital manufacturing of orthosescan significantly improve the efficiency and reduce lead time compared to tranditionalmethods.This paper attempts to conduct a review on theorthoses manufacturing method based on digital technology including Computer Aided Design (CAD), Comupter Aided Manufacture (CAM) and Reverse Engineering (RE) by examining state-of-the-art academic and industrial reserch.In this paper, the rationale behindthe development of orthoses manufacturing methodsbased on digital technologies isaddressed firstly, followed by adescription ofthecharateristicsofideal orthoses manufacturing methods. Next, some selectedresearchesindigitalorthoses manufacturing in terms of patents and academic papers isreviewedand evaluated against criteria foridealorthese manufacture. Finally thetrend of digital manufacture of ortheseisdiscussed and summarized.