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#SIMPLE STUDY TABLE DESIGNS FOR STUDENTS HOW TO#
The table is mechanically adjustable so it does not require electricity, however, surgical staff will need to be trained on how to perform needed adjustments during surgery. Geometrically flexible to allow for a wide array of common surgeries, the open source surgical table has a weight capacity of more than 130 kg, is radiolucent (permeable to X-rays) in surgical zones, and is completely modular and upgradeable. The leg height ranges from 31 to 117 cm, the arm supports and foot holder both have a 180-degree range, the foot traction has a 54 cm range, and the legs can be adjusted from 55 to 120 degrees. The open-source fracture table can be adjusted 90 to 116 cm in height and tilted from +/-15 degrees. “We all get superior equipment this way,” said Pearce. As surgeons and other health-care workers find a need for further attachments and modifications, they can add to the functionality of the design, either by designing a modification themselves, or by describing what they would like to see in the design and having others contribute to these designs. And as the design of the table is freely available, the table can be built, used and repaired on location. Ideally, this table design is useful to hospitals that might otherwise be unable to afford one. I’m sure any decent engineer could look at it and make it a little bit better and that’s exactly what it’s meant to do – to be a starting point for other people to build on.” “This is in no way the final fracture table. One way we can help reduce costs is to enable all manufacturers to build these, sell them directly, and to integrate some of the innovations, like the use of the radiolucent 3D-printed parts we made into their own designs,” said Pearce. “Medical technology is absurdly expensive. And the best part about them being open-source is that they can be improved and built even more cost-effectively. These proposed, low-cost surgical tables will help. A fracture table helps to position the patient during surgery which frees up health-care workers from holding the patient in position while a procedure is being done. Health-care workers do not always have the help and technology available to do even simple procedures. You can make the economic case to 3D print your own toys and gadgets, but this study takes it up several notches, to provide a path to high-value medical tools.”ĭue in part to surgical table unaffordability, surgeries in many locations are limited.
#SIMPLE STUDY TABLE DESIGNS FOR STUDENTS DOWNLOAD#
“As of now, most things that you have around your house, from toys to kitchen gadgets, already have CAD (computer aided design) models freely available for you to download and replicate with the right tools. We’re right at the start of a decentralized manufacturing revolution,” said Pearce. “Designs can be shared digitally and replicated with digital manufacturing like 3D printing anywhere in the world. ‘Open-source’ refers to the licence for a publicly accessible design that anyone can modify, use and share. It uses materials that are widely available worldwide and the specialty components required are easily 3D printed.įinal assembly of surgical fracture table. The open-source surgical fracture table can assist surgeons to complete a wide range of orthopedic procedures as well as general surgical procedures, gynecological procedures and childbirth. Examples include treatment of fractures, placement of external fixator/use of traction, escharotomy/fasciotomy, trauma-related amputations, repair of clubfoot deformity, drainage of septic arthritis, and debridement of osteomyelitis. Nine of the World Bank’s priorities for cost-effective surgical procedures that should be universally available are orthopedic procedures. “And if we help those who are financially less fortunate with acquiring high-performance medical equipment, we will also be making better medical tools for ourselves at a lower cost, so really, everyone wins.” “We want everyone in the world to have cost-effective medical care and this is one step on the path to getting us there,” said Pearce.
Pearce said this not only radically increases affordability, but accessibility too. The final constructed operating table costs just under $4,000, or a 98.5 per cent savings compared to commercially available systems. Thompson Chair in Information Technology and Innovation at Western University, and his collaborators at Western Engineering and Michigan Tech University, used an open-source desktop 3D printer and made the necessary components for the cost-effective surgical table in a little over a week of continuous printing.
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