Product category:
CAM, CNC and production management software
News Release from: Delcam | Subject: Power Solution
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 06 June 2005
Software brings consistency to medical
design
Using Delcam's Power Solution CADCAM software is enabling Cascade DAFO to achieve its important goal of helping children to walk.
Using Delcam's Power Solution CADCAM software is enabling Cascade DAFO to achieve its important goal of helping children to walk The company, which is based in Washington State, takes its name from the dynamic ankle foot orthoses that it designs and produces
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 6 Jan 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Software helps Chinese trains run on time
Power Solution CADCAM software has helped China's Changchun Railway Vehicle Co to meet Government targets for better trains capable of operating at higher speeds.
Software brings reverse engineering to chocolate
Since 1999, Kaupert, a leading German manufacturer of chocolate moulds, has used Delcam software for the design of all its polycarbonate tooling.
The "DAFOs" are braces for children who have neurological or neuromuscular problems.
They correctly position the foot and ankle to increase stability and help the child walk on his or her own.
The design of a custom brace begins with a cast of the child's foot and ankle.
Further reading
Software speeds complex composite parts to market
Power Solution software is helping Italian composites manufacturer Plyform to reduce both costs and time to market.
Software helps bring monumental clock together
Delcam's Power Solution software has been used in the creation of a mechanical clock designed to keep precise time for 10,000 years.
This is sent to Cascade DAFO, where it is filled with plaster to form an exact replica that can be used to size the brace components.
During the casting process, the patient's foot rests in a sole-shaped footplate, which positions the foot and helps assure the accuracy of the cast.
From about the time of its founding in 1982, Cascade DAFO made the footplates using resin moulds.
However, because each mould was hand carved, there was no simple way to make changes or to scale the moulds to create different sizes.
Left and right footplates weren't exactly the same.
Also, because they were rather flat, the footplates tended to move around under the foot, requiring careful placement to produce an accurate cast.
To improve the casting process, Cascade DAFO's founder, Don Buethorn, designed a new footplate that would grip the foot to provide more stability and consistency.
A key factor in accurately and consistently manufacturing the new design was the use of Delcam's CopyCAD reverse engineering software, the PowerShape hybrid CAD modeller and the PowerMill CAM system.
Manufacturing Engineer Mike Walls Walls described how the software was used.
"We started with a mould that Don Buethorn had approved, laser scanned it, and brought the data into CopyCAD".
"There we made modifications, tidied things up a bit, and added a little more definition".
"We took that file into PowerShape, created the outline mould shape, and scaled it to produce the 28 different sizes we needed".
"Then we brought those files into PowerMill and created the machining programs".
"Finally, we milled the shapes of the moulds into Renshape polyurethane tooling board".
The tooling board moulds are used in an automated thermoformer to produce the footplates.
Use of the Delcam software guarantees that the left and right footplates are symmetrical.
Walls said: "Scaling is absolutely uniform, so we are very much in control of our sizing".
"Another big benefit is that all the new footplates stack up neatly, so transporting them and using them is very quick".
The software also provided significant savings in design and manufacturing time.
"The cost is less than the original footplates, and it's passed on to the customer", Walls said. Request a free brochure from Delcam ...
• Delcam: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
