Two Catalan entrepreneurs have created a 3D-printed cast that means an end to plaster as a way of immobilising broken bones. The invention called Xkelet will come on to the market at the beginning of 2017 and will be available to patients of mutual societies and private hospitals. Each cast is tailor-made, and all the doctor has to do is scan the part of the body affected with an iPad and send it off to be produced. One of the company partners, Jordi Tura, explains that Xkelet avoids the inconvenience of having to wear a traditional plaster cast.
"Our product lets you bathe without problems, lets the skin breathe and only weighs 150 grams. Moreover, it avoids possible inflammation of the body part affected," he says. Once it is on the market, Xkelet will be suitable for up to 80% of the most common bone injuries. For the moment, the invention has already had unexpected publicity from Hollywood, where the actor Ashton Kutcher shared a video of it over social networks.
The people behind Xkelet are Jordi Tura, a 35 year-old from Girona, and Ricardo Veiga, 48 from Barcelona. Two years ago they set up the company, a startup with the same name as their product. However, they have been considering the idea for much longer than that.
In fact, the lightbulb lit up some four and a half years ago. At the time, Veiga had had a motorbike accident in which he broke a leg and had to spend two months in a plaster cast. "The immobilisation caused him problems in his everyday life," recalls Tura. He and Veiga already knew each other from previous projects.
Precisely at that time the two partners found a degree dissertation on the internet. It was by a young person from Denmark who had made a mesh object through 3D printing.
One thing led to another and Xkelet was born: a 3D-printed cast for broken bones. The invention has already been certified by the European Union and has received the green light from the European Medicines Agency. For the moment, the prototypes produced have focused on broken wrists. Now, as Tura confirms, the time has come to extend this to the full range of injuries and to put it on the market.
The promoters of Xkelet estimate that sales will begin at the beginning of 2017. In the meantime, the cast will be adapted to cover "the 80% of the most common injuries," says Tura. "In other words, broken thumbs, wrists, elbows, arms, entire legs, knees and ankles," he adds.
Light and made to measure
As for the advantages of Xkelet over traditional plaster casts, Tura is very clear: "To begin with, there are the obvious ones: with our cast the patient can bathe whenever he or she wants to without a problem, it is lighter than plaster and weighs 150 grams, it does not deteriorate and it lets you wear clothes without any problems," he says.
But apart from that there are other improvements: "We solve the problems of inflammation that can happen in an area of the body covered with plaster, because Xkelet has a mesh structure." "The patient does not even suffer from a loss of muscle mass, peeling skin or itching, because the cast is hypoallergenic and biocompatible."
All it will take is for the doctor to examine the injury and scan the affected area for less than a minute with an iPad (that carries the company software). Each Xkelet is made to measure for each patient –there will be no two that are the same- and the openings and the colour can also be chosen, for example.
Between 48 and 72 hours
Once the data has been introduced, with a single click the doctor will send the cast off to be produced. The company that will make the 3D impression is in Belgium, and Xkelet will arrive at the surgery in a period of between 48 and 72 hours. However, for Tura this time is no impediment. "We have to remember that with broken bones, the doctor has to reset the injury before definitively immobilising it, and that means going back to the surgery after between three and eight days," he says.
Tura also points out that, apart from these injuries, Xkelet can also be used by patients suffering from ailments like arthritis (and who need to have parts of the body immobilised for hours at a time). That is why they have designed two systems of closure (the cast is made of two pieces). One allows the patient to remove the cast whenever they want, and the other means the cast has to be broken open after the period of immobilisation.
When it is on the market, Xkelet will be available in mutual societies and private hospitals. Tura admits that the 3D printing system is not as competitively priced as plaster. "We will not be available on the public health service due to cost," he says. "But we will be in mutual societies and private hospitals all over Spain, and some international hospitals that have shown an interest. From the beginning Xkelet attracted attention from doctors," he adds.
Publicity from Hollywood
We will have to wait a few months to be able to heal broken bones with Xkelet. However, for the moment this Catalan invention has already won a Reddot Design Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in industrial design, which are awarded in Germany.
And totally unexpectedly, both Tura and Veiga have also seen their product receive publicity from Hollywood. The actor Ashton Kutcher shared a video of the invention on social networks. "I love this design," he said. "In just over 24 hours we received more than a million hits," says Tura.