Scanners

Digtial Foot Scanners for Orthotics: Part 1

lhuppin@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

For the past several weeks I have been testing a new scanner in my office. So far I am impressed with the functionality of the scanner. It’s not perfect, but the manufacturer has been very receptive to our suggestions.

Scanning – also known as digital casting – soon will likely be the most common method of capturing an image of the foot to produce custom foot orthoses.

We have evaluated over a dozen scanners and I have personally tested five of the better ones. Over the next several months we will be providing unbiased reviews of these and other scanners to help you decide whether you wish to use a scanner in your office, and if so, find the best one to serve your needs.

The first thing we did was to come up with the criteria any scanner must fulfill to be considered as a replacement for casting. We came up with the following 9 criteria that the ideal 3D optical scanner should have:

1. Allows for standard neutral suspension cast technique.
2. Allows the foot to be held with no contact on the scanning unit. Pressure on the foot from the scanning unit deforms the plantar arch shape and has great potential to dorsiflex the first ray. An orthosis made from an image where the first ray is plantarflexed will act to prevent first ray plantarflexion and lead to functional hallux limitus
3. Captures plantar surface contours with plaster-like accuracy. Studies on orthotic therapy for metatarsalgia, hallux limitus, tarsal tunnel syndrome and plantar fasciitis indicate that total contact with the arch provides better clinical outcomes. In order to conform close to the arch, the image must accurately capture the arch.
4. Captures the posterior heel to allow frontal plane balancing. The ability to balance the forefoot to the rearfoot appears to offer better potential clinical outcomes in most of the primary pathologies commonly treated with functional foot orthoses. Balancing requires that the image of the posterior heel, along with the plantar foot be captured in the image. Unfortunately, this critical aspect of the image is being ignored in many of the imagers currently being marketed.
5. Intuitive software
6. Cost and time effective.
7. High degree of reliability.
8. Effective support and service infrastructure.
9. Allows choice of multiple labs. This one is critical. You never want to be tied to one lab.

Over the next several months we will be providing reviews on the best scanners currently on the market. If you are in the market for a scanner to replace orthotic casting, keep an eye on this space for updated information. If you have any questions about scanners, leave a reply with your question.

Why Foot Orthoses Will be Better with Non Weightbearing Digtial Scanning

lhuppin@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:39:00 GMT

In the coming months and years, we predict that 3-D optical foot scanning will replace plaster casting as the method of choice for capturing foot shape for production of functional foot orthoses. We also predict that there is great potential for laser scanning of the feet to result in better casts and, subsequently, better orthoses.

Digital imaging of the feet will result in better orthoses primarily because plaster is a difficult material to work with. Plaster is slippery, wet, soft, slimy and takes a long time to dry. If not dry, it bends out of shape easily when being removed from the feet. In addition, because it takes a long time to dry, some practitioners have staff take the casts. This usually results in a less than optimal cast. Others resort to using foam boxes, which have been shown in several studies to cause excessive varus to be captured in the cast and, ultimately, the orthoses. In fact, foam box casts tend to produce such poor functional orthoses that ProLab no longer accepts foam boxes for production of custom functional orthoses.

Watch our casting video for a refresher on correct positioning of the foot.

Using the best foot scanners, on the other hand, is so much faster (less than 5 seconds per foot) that it is easier to maintain the foot in optimal casting position. It is so fast, in fact, that we hope that those practitioners who have staff take plaster casts will take the image themselves.

We'll be posting more information on foot scanners over the next few months. If you wish to be notified whenever we post new information on foot scanners, subscribe to the RSS of this blog.

Foot Scanners for Orthotic Production

lhuppin@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the near future, optical foot scanners will replace plaster as the primary method of capturing the foot for production of functional orthoses. We have spent a tremendous amount of time researching scanners over the past several years and have developed criteria which should be used in evaluating any scanner you are considering.

I have an article published in the August issue of Lower Extremity Review that is essentially a consumer guide designed to help podiatrists evaluate scanners.  You can read the scanner article here.

ProLab is the podiatric profession's best source for information on scanners.   We will be providing significant resources here on the website over the next months.   If you wish to be informed as more information is added, subscribe to the RSS for this "scanner" blog.

ProLab clients can contact a medical consultant for scanner information. Others are welcome to ask questions here.