Scoliosis can be mainly treated by operative method or non-operative method. Scoliosis operation can be said the most difficult, dangerous and expensive one among surgical operations. Unless there is no alternative, it is usually suggested to adopt non-operative treatment, including physical therapy, motorpathy and gypsum orthotics, but the last one refers to the main and most reliable and conservative method.
In recent years, along with the breakthroughs in 3D technology and materials, SLS 3D printing features the following advantages compared with other printing technologies:
1. More convenient:no printing support required on SLS technology
It is troublesome and time-wasting to remove printing support with of SLA or FDM technology, so the manufacturing time cannot be guaranteed. Basically, patients can use the SLS 3D printed parts within two days, while FDM requires one week and SLA requires four days.
2. Larger: the moulding size of SLS is generally large
Generally, a typical example of SLS 3D printer is TPM3D S480, which has a moulding size of 470x470x590 and can satisfy the printing of orthotics for tall patients. The common SLA printer of the same external dimension, which has a moulding size of 450×450×350, can only realize the printing of orthotics for relatively short patients.
3. Cheaper: low cost for nylon powder
At present, all SLS powder manufacturers can basically control the price within RMB 600/kg. One nylon orthotics wastes about 500 g at most, so the material cost is about RMB 300, which is acceptable to both the manufacturer and the patient. If nylon 12 featuring high reusability is used, such as TPM3D premicid1171Pro, the cost can be further lowered.
4. More durable: SLS nylon material is most recognized in terms of toughness and impact resistance among various printing technologies
Polyamide is mainly used for fiber synthesis due to its higher abrasion resistance and toughness than all other fibers, namely, abrasion resistance 10 times higher than cotton and 20 times higher than wool, so a little nylon added into blended fabrics can greatly improve its abrasion resistance; its elastic recovery rate can reach 100% when stretched to 3-6%; and it can endure ten thousand of bending without breakage. Orthotics is to be worn for long time and usually rubs with clothes or human body and bends, so nylon is the most suitable material for orthotics.
