Engineers Create A Breathable And Waterproof Cast To Replace Plaster Ones And Stop The Itching Forever

Most people fall into one of two categories. Those of us who have fragile bones that seem to break every time we have a small accident and those of us who seem to have bones of steel and bounce back from every nasty misfortune.

However, as some of us know, breaking an arm or a leg is a horrible experience. Because of the constant pain, as well as the discomfort of having to wear a plaster cast.

A group of engineers based in Chicago decided to make the lives of people who break their arms a bit easier and came up with a new design for a cast. It’s even waterproof, so no more having to shower with a trash bag over your cast! Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with representatives of the Cast21 company that makes the new type of cast.

More info: Cast21.com | Facebook | Instagram

Engineers from Chicago came up with a new type of arm cast

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A Chicago startup called Cast21 looked into the problems of plaster casts and tackled them head-on. Jason Troutner, biomedical design engineer Ashley Moy, and electrical engineer Justin Brooks, all from the University of Illinois, came up with a breathable, more hygienic, waterproof cast that can be fitted in around 10 minutes, using liquid resin that hardens and sets the bone in place.

The cast is waterproof and more hygienic

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“In my opinion, with a traditional cast or brace, the worst part of breaking an arm would be the smell after weeks of treatment. How embarrassing! Otherwise, I would imagine the pain from the break itself would be the biggest downside of breaking an arm,” they said.

The company rep also revealed that Cast 21 plant on “expanding into more territories and developing different product lines to help even more doctors and patients.”

“The doctors and patients we work with are amazing. Our clinician partners are so dedicated to providing their patients with the best care possible, and their dedication shows in the smiles of their grateful patients. It’s an incredibly motivating experience, and we are so humbled to be apart of it.”

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The cast can be set in around 10 minutes and is easier to remove than a plaster cast

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The only time I broke something [ knocks on wood ] was my left wrist, right before my summer exams at school. So I had to sit in a hot room while it’s boiling outside, writing essay after essay for hours on end while my hand constantly reminded me that, yup, it’s still broken. Trust me, it wasn’t fun.

“We have this radical notion that you can enjoy your healing experience. You don’t need to be restrained from daily activities,” Cast21’s vice president of engineering Veronica Hogg explained to the Daily Mail. According to her, their cast is designed to be removed easier than usual as well and doesn’t need a circular saw.

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Here’s a video that shows how easy the arm cast is to clean

View this post on Instagram One wipe and the mess is gone! With cleanup being this easy, there’s nothing holding you back from tapping into your creative side!🎨 A post shared by CAST21 (@cast21official) on Oct 26, 2018 at 3:08pm PDT

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Designer Deniz Karasahin has created a prototype for a new kind of cast called “Osteoid” that will hopefully help revolutionize the treatment of broken bones. His 3D-printed cast is stylish and more effective than the currently ubiquitous plaster casts we all know and dread.

The cast’s slick look isn’t just eye candy – the holes prevent the cast from becoming excessively stinky or itchy, which is a common problem with big, heavy and non-breathable plaster casts. Its plastic construction means that it itself is waterproof but that it will also allow the patient’s skin to breathe.

The cast’s production process seems like it’s right out of a sci-fi movie. First, a 3D scan is done of the patient’s arm. Then, modeling software generates a cast and creates holes. All of this is transferred to a program that finally allows a 3D printer to create the cast.

The cast also has an ultrasound system called LIPUS (Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound System), which greatly increases the healing speed of broken bones. This system couldn’t be used in plaster casts because of their composition, but it can be freely incorporated into these 3D-printed casts.

Perhaps most important of all, however, is that the cast can come in any color that plastic can be printed in. So while you won’t be able to get your cast signed anymore, you may actually end up looking stylish when wearing it.

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