Shriners Hospitals for Children Advances Orthotics & Prosthetics Care with Installation of New Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing System

SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Children who need braces and artificial limbs are the beneficiaries of a
new computer-aided design and manufacturing system at Shriners
Hospitals for Children – Northern California. The high-tech system
consists of a camera, scanner, computer-modification software and a
3-Axis Carver, a machine that cuts prosthetic and orthotic molds from
pre-sized cylindrical polyurethane foam. Installed in the hospital’s
orthotics and prosthetics lab earlier this year, the advanced technology
has made the process for making prostheses, braces and burn masks
faster, more efficient, less invasive and more effective.

“We no longer need to rely on plaster or fiberglass to make a prosthetic
limb or brace for a patient,” says Dan Munoz, manager of the Pediatric
Orthotic and Prosthetic Services (POPS) at the Northern California
Shriners Hospital. “Now, thanks to scanning technology, we use a
hand-held camera and mouse to begin the molding process.”

Under the old system, prostheses and orthoses were molded by hand. To
begin the process, a practitioner would make a plaster or fiberglass
cast of the patient’s limb or face. Now, patients no longer always need
casts made. Instead, Munoz or a colleague scans the patient’s body part
with the camera, which instantaneously transmits a three-dimensional
image to an adjacent computer screen. Then they modify the image on a
computer, which can take as little as 10 minutes. The image is sent to
the in-house Carver, which cuts a mold in minutes.

The Canadian firm Vorum installed the cutting-edge technology that was
made possible by a $116,000 donation made to the Northern California
Shriners Hospital by The Gately Foundation, which supports medical
science, education and enrichment of the lives of children in Northern
California.

The digitized system promotes collaboration among Shriners Hospitals,
making it possible for the Sacramento hospital to fabricate devices for
Shriners hospitals in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. It is allowing
satellite centers to open, like a recent one at a Shriners hospital in
Spokane, which has never had an in-house orthotics and prosthetics lab.
Now staff can scan patients and digitally send the images to a Shriners
Hospital lab with a Carver for fabrication.

The digitized system also allows POPS to keep an electronic record of
every device they make, including about 3,000 devices a year. The
comparative data provides information that may promote new research
studies and improve patient care.

Shriners Hospitals for Children – Northern California is one of five
Shriners Hospitals nationwide with a Carver. Having a handful of
fabrication centers, rather than many hospitals operating independently
and making their own devices is a new business model Shriners recently
adopted, says Munoz, manager of Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic
Services (POPS) at Shriners Hospital in Sacramento.

The cost-saving model allows Shriners to serve more patients, give
patients a more consistent experience, and reduce the number of days
out-of-town families will have to spend in Sacramento.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is devoted to transforming the lives of
children through excellence in treatment, teaching and research. Located
at 2425 Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, Shriners Hospitals for
Children – Northern California provides care to children with
orthopaedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, burns, cleft lip, scars
from any cause and other complex surgical needs. There are no barriers
to care as admission is based on age and diagnosis. Care is provided
regardless of the family’s ability to pay. For further information call
(916) 453-2000 or go online to www.shrinerschildrens.org.

Contacts

Shriners Hospitals for Children
Catherine Curran, 916-453-2218
Public
Relations
ccurran@shrinenet.org