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Andiamo: revolutionising orthotics

Andiamo logo
Andiamo is one of the first organisations to introduce modern 3D body scanning and 3D printing techniques to orthotics, the branch of medicine dedicated to the correction or support of the body with braces or splints.

It revolutionises the centuries-old system for orthotics’ design and manufacture: cutting the time it takes to deliver a customised brace from six months to just 48 hours, which is crucial for young patients, who have often outgrown the brace by the time it has been made. It will also hugely lessen the suffering of patients of serious conditions such as cerebral palsy, who find the process of being pinned down and coated in plaster to take their measurements particularly distressing.

Using digital techniques also means that Andiamo can for the first time collect and upload information on each device made and each patient measured, forming the first-ever dataset for clinicians, from which they can draw insights to improve designs and patient outcomes.

Nominet Trust funding is to develop the prototype for this cloud-based collaborative platform for the clinicians. Called Cognitive Clinical Decisions, it will be built on the same IBM computer platform, Watson, that US cancer specialists have used to develop a collaborative app. The Andiamo site will also feature the latest biomechanical research so clinicians can update designs based on the most up-to-date advice, enabling better orthotic treatment for children with disabilities and long term conditions.

Two million people in the UK and 100M worldwide need orthotics each year, with demand projected to grow by between 4 and 6% a year with the rise of lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes.