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RSPrint Powered by Materialise
Step one: The foot is scanned using RSscans’s Footscan system.
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RSPrint Powered by Materialise
Step two: Customised insoles are designed to truly meet the needs of the individual.
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RSPrint Powered by Materialise
Step 3: The insoles are then prepared for the 3D printing process.
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RSPrint Powered by Materialise
Step four: The insoles are 3D printed and delivered.
When out and about in the park or walking to the pub on the canal towpath in springtime, it's hard not to come across a runner ambling breathlessly in one direction or another like a messenger from the zombie apocalypse front line.
Popular running routes are busy in springtime because it's fun run/marathon season from now until late autumn and for the vast majority of us who pull on our trainers a couple of times a week to pound some pavement and burn off a little steam (and train for the zombie apocalypse), niggles, aches, pains and discomfort tend to be an unavoidable by-product.
But Materialise believes it has found a solution for those aches and pains that can be attributed to merely having less than perfect footwear for your gait thanks to its cutting-edge 3D scanning and 3D printing development.
In partnership with RSscan International, an expert in gait analysis, the venture has been christened RSPrint Powered by Materialise and combines the Leuven-based service bureau's industry-leading 3D printing and design knowhow with RSscan's dynamic measurement footscan solutions. Together, the initiative's RSPrint will create the world's first 3D printed insoles that have been customised to genuinely support the minutiae of movement in an individual's feet while they work out.
RSPrint is not the first or only company to offer 3D-printed insoles, but it is the first to use Footscan hardware and software for dynamic pressure measurements for the design of insoles. These specialist insoles are built using data for the shape of the patient's foot, in addition to the pressure distribution across the sole surface when they ambulate at varying speeds and intensities thanks to the in depth biomechanical analysis enabled by Footscan. The result is a unique insole that is customised to support every move the wearer makes, potentially reducing the chance of sprains, shin splints and other afflictions common to runners.
Founder and CEO of Materialise Fried Vancraen, who is keynote speaker at the upcoming TCT Show + Personalize this autumn, said: "Our mission at Materialise has always been to use our 3D printing software and solutions in the creation of a better and healthier world and this joint venture with RSscan International does just that. With RSPrint, RSscan’s state-of-the-art measurement solution is being used to create advanced 3D-printed insoles that do more than just provide a customized fit to the shape of the foot. Thanks to RSPrint, individuals will be able to walk, run, and pursue an active lifestyle in comfort with 3D printed insoles that respond to their specific needs."
The RSPrint process is very simple to complete. First, the patient's foot is scanned using RSscan's Footscan system, then the custom insoles are designed to truly meet that patient's needs; for example, if they have a tendency to put more weight on one side of one foot. Finally, the insoles are prepared for 3D printing, resulting in insoles that have been made for the patient using their own data. These are then 3D-printed and delivered to their new owner.
Founder of RSscan International Jempi Wilssens commented: "As a former athlete myself, I saw the the damage done when incorrect sports shoes were worn. I first started RSscan with the goal of helping others perform to the best of their abilities, injury free, through a better understanding of their footwear needs. With RSPrint, I feel that we are taking yet another step in the right direction by creating 3D printed, customised insoles that gives wearers the dynamic support needed, for every move they make."
