A PERSONALIZED ACCESSORY FOR PROTECTION OF A BODY PART AND A MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE SAID ACCESSORY

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of medical accessories, more precisely to the field of accessories for protection against outer conditions such as impacts, high or low temperature and similar conditions that can harm a human being. The invention relates to a personalized accessory for protection of a body part, which comprises a protective element, which fits to the shape of the excrescence, a scar or a wound, and an adjustable part to which the protective part is attached, glued, sewed or inserted, wherein the adjustable part can be stretched or in any other way adjusted to the particular body part, which has to be protected. The said accessory is manufactured in the following way: first the body part with the injury is scanned or measured in order to obtain a 3D model of the scanned or measured body part. Then the protective element is made using a 3D printer or thermoforming with an adjustable mould, wherein the finished protective element is then attached to the adjustable part.

Claims

1. A personalized accessory for protection of a body part comprising: a protective element, which fits to the shape of the excrescence, a scar or a wound on a body part, wherein the protective element is made based on measurements and/or scanning the injury, excrescence, scar or wound; and an adjustable part, to which the protective element is attached, glued, sewn or inserted, wherein the adjustable part may be stretched or in any other way adjusted to the size of the body part to be protected.

2. The personalized accessory for protection of a body part according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective element is made from any suitable material, especially from plastics or rubber, while the adjustable part is made from an elastic fabric such as nylon and spandex or rubber, foam or 3D fibre mesh.

3. The personalized accessory for protection of a body part according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the protective part is made from a material selected in the group consisting of thermoplastic polymeric materials, for example polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (TPU), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), recycled plastic, reinforced polymeric materials with glass fibres, as well as rubber, resin, photopolymeric resin and metal materials such as aluminium, steel and titanium.

4. The personalized accessory for protection of a body part according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the protective element may be equipped with holes for improved skin breathability, said holes may be made during manufacturing or later.

5. The personalized accessory for protection of a body part according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a bottom part of the protective part, which is in contact with skin, is provided with a mesh or a suitable breathable fabric.

6. The personalized accessory for protection of a body part according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that both parts have an antibacterial coating.

7. A manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the preceding claims, the method comprising the following steps: a) scanning or measuring the body part with the injury, based on which a 3D model of the scanned body part is obtained, preferably width, length and height of the injury or the excrescence, b) preparation of the 3D model of the measured or scanned body part obtained in the previous step, c) making of the 3D model of the protective element, which fits to the 3D model obtained in step b), d) manufacturing of the protective element using any suitable method, preferably with 3D printing or thermoforming, and e) manufacturing of the accessory with the protective part made in step d).

8. The manufacturing method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the steps of scanning and shaping a suitable file for manufacturing the accessory are as follows: i. preparing the body part for scanning, wherein all clothes or elements are removed and a suitable measurement device such as a ruler or a tape measure is provided near the body part, ii. activation of the application, which scans at least a part of the selected body part, either by taking individual pictures (images), either by filming of the body part, wherein also manual taking of images or videos is possible independently from the application; the images or video may be taken with a suitable camera, photography camera, mobile phone, tablet or any other suitable equipment which can generate a suitable scan; iii. the scan obtained in step ii) is preferably transformed into a suitable format file such as .obj or similar; iv. the obtained file in step iii) is preferably processed, wherein name, number, slight adjustments and similar may be made in order to obtain a 3D model of the scanned body part; v. based on the 3D model obtained in step iv) the protective part for protection of the selected body part is generated with a suitable computer program, usually a .stl file is obtained, which can be transformed into a .gcode file needed for 3D printing.

9. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the claims from 7 to 8, characterized in that the file for the protective part in step v) is prepared and then the file for 3D printing or the file for any other suitable method such as thermoforming is sent to a suitable manufacturing device.

10. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the claims from 7 to 9, characterized in that for manufacturing of the protective element different methods of 3D printing may be used, such as Poly Jetting, selective laser sintering (SLS), fused filament fabrication (FFF) or fused deposition modelling (FDM), preferably 3D printing based on SLA and FDM/FFF processes.

11. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the claims from 7 to 9, characterized in that for manufacturing of the protective element thermoforming using a physically adjustable mould is used, wherein the said mould is returned to its basic state before each new manufacturing, the basic state then being adjusted with regards to the prepared 3D model of the injury.

12. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to claim 11, characterized in that the device for thermoforming comprises hydraulically or mechanically movable spikes or pistons arranged one next to the other at small distances, usually few millimetres or centimetres, so that they can be able to reproduce the shape of the injury, to which a layer of the material to be shaped will be provided; wherein in the basic state the said spikes or pistons are in the same plane, while they are arranged to rearrange and vertically rise upon receiving the file in order to form the required shape and wherein a layer of material is provided over the shape formed by the spikes or pistons; and above it: the second part of the mould is moved closer, wherein this second part is fixed and serves as a heater to heat the polymeric material above the temperature needed for melting and reshaping of the material with regards to the mould, or the second part of the mould is moved closer in order to serve as a negative which adjusts to the lower mould and compresses as well as heats the material provided in-between in order to reshape it.

13. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the claims from 7 to 12, characterized in that the manufactured protective element is attached, glued, sewed or inserted on the adjustable part.

14. The manufacturing method of the personalized accessory according to any of the claims from 7 to 13, characterized in that the protective element may be entirely covered with the adjustable part or the latter is attached to the edges of the protective element, which is thus visible.

Description

[0035] The personalized accessory for protection of a body part and a manufacturing method thereof will be described in further detail based on exemplary embodiments and figures, which show:

[0036] FIG. 1 Sketch of the AV fistula on a patient's arm

[0037] FIG. 2 protective part of the accessory according to a possible embodiment

[0038] FIG. 3 Plan view of the protective part of the accessory according to a possible embodiment

[0039] FIG. 4 Integrated protective part into the adjustable part according to a possible embodiment

[0040] FIG. 5 Sketch of the accessory for protection of an AV fistula on an arm

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a sketch of a patient's arm with an AV fistula (excrescences F), which has to be protected. According to the preferred embodiment the arm is scanned with a mobile application, which is performed according to the following steps: [0042] a) preparing the body part for scanning, wherein all clothes or elements are removed and a suitable measurement device such as a ruler or a tape measure is provided near the body part, [0043] b) activation of the application, which scans at least a part of the selected body part, either by taking individual pictures (images), either by filming of the body part, wherein also manual taking of images or videos is possible independently from the application; the images or video may be taken with a suitable camera, photography camera, mobile phone, tablet or any other suitable equipment which can generate a suitable scan; [0044] c) the scan obtained in step b) is preferably transformed into a suitable format file such as .obj or similar; [0045] d) the obtained file in step c) is preferably processed, wherein name, number, slight adjustments and similar may be made in order to obtain a 3D model of the scanned body part; [0046] e) based on the 3D model obtained in step d) the protective part for protection of the selected body part is generated with a suitable computer program, usually a .stl file is obtained, which can be transformed into a .gcode file needed for 3D printing

[0047] There are several excrescences, therefore each of them and their characteristics are precisely described and defined prior to manufacturing, so that the accessory and especially its protective part corresponds and fits on the injury. This is the reason for preparation of the 3D model of the AV fistula as described above.

[0048] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the protective part 11 of the accessory 1, wherein the raised parts 11a in 11b fit to the excrescence F of the fistula. The base part 111 of the protective element 11 is provided with holes 111a that ensure air flow and skin breathing. The protective part as shown may be made according to any of the above described methods; preferably it is made using 3D printing based on the model of the scanned patient's arm. The protective element may be made from any suitable material, especially from plastic or rubber; it may be covered with a mesh or any other breathable material, while it can also be additionally provided with a layer of an antibacterial agent.

[0049] FIG. 4 shows the accessory 1 according to a possible embodiment, the accessory comprising; [0050] the protective element 11, which fits (corresponds) to the shape of the excrescence, scar or wound, wherein the protective element 11 is sewn into the middle part 10 of the accessory, and [0051] the adjustable part 12, onto which the protective part 11 is attached, preferably sewn,
wherein the adjustable part may be stretched or in any other way adjusted to the shape of the body part with the AV fistula. The adjustable part 12 is equipped with attachment tapes 13a, 13b that enable attachment to the patient's body part, in this embodiment to the patient's arm. The adjustable part 12 is preferably made from an elastic fabric such as nylon and spandex, while the dimensions are arbitrary. It may cover the part form the wrist to the shoulder or a smaller part, for example only to the elbow. The finished accessory 1 for protection of the AV fistula is placed on the arm of a patient as shown in FIG. 5, so that it covers the part of the arm from the wrist to the elbow.