A Cloud Information Platform for 3D Printing Rehabilitation Devices

Due to the problems of current population aging, occupational injuries and traffic accidents have led to an increasing number of elder people who are physically disabled in Taiwan. These persons, mostly seek medical treatment from medical institutions to help restore them to their premorbid level. Therefore the number of patients who go to medical institutions is gradually increasing and the splinting is largely applied in the medical cares. 3D printing technology has been widely used in the medical industry in recent years, especially in the development of rehabilitation devices. Up until now, to produce the customized splint requires either face to face communication or messaging software by relevant parties. Due to the complexity of the medical process, it is often time-consuming for occupational therapists to discuss the medical records with the splint design engineers via the above mentioned means. The other difficulty is that data management becomes a real problem. Medical communication and information management are thus the most urgent issues that need to be investigated. In this study, we applied the information technology and cloud-based technology to design a simple and user-friendly web-based interface for making 3D printing splint. This web-based interface utilizes cloud-based technology to provide an information platform for communication and co-management between the relevant stakeholders. The aim of this study is to make system management, retrieving patients’ information and browsing 3D graphics be more convenient for users, and thus to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of producing splints based on the proposed system