Method for generating a custom hand brace for a patient

1. A computer-based method for generating a custom hand brace for a patient comprising:

compiling optical data captured during a three-dimensional scan of a target hand of the patient into a three-dimensional hand model of the target hand at a computing device;

receiving a diagnosis for an injury to the target hand of the patient at the computing device;

based on the diagnosis, generating a custom hand brace model at the computing device by:

automatically extracting a first set of points from the three-dimensional hand model to generate an initial hand brace model, wherein a portion of the first set of points corresponds to a key feature including at least one of a fingertip, an interphalangeal joint, an ulnar styloid process, or a radial styloid process;

forming an interior surface of the initial hand brace model based on the first set of points; and

deforming the interior surface of the initial hand brace model into alignment with an exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model to generate the custom hand brace model; and

queuing, at the computing device, the custom hand brace model for fabricating at an advanced manufacturing system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein deforming the interior surface of the initial hand brace model into alignment with the exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model comprises:

calculating a total error between the interior surface of the initial hand brace model and the exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model; and

in response to the total error falling below an error threshold, storing the initial hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein compiling optical data captured during the three-dimensional scan of the target hand of the patient comprises assembling a set of photographic images captured of the target hand.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein compiling optical data captured during the three-dimensional scan of the target hand of the patient into the three-dimensional hand model of the target hand further comprises:

rendering the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device; and

for each key feature in a set of key features on the three-dimensional hand model:

transmitting a prompt on the display of the computing device to label the key feature on the three-dimensional hand model;

receiving a selection of a pixel location on the three-dimensional hand model via the display of the computing device; and

storing the pixel location on the three-dimensional hand model as corresponding to the key feature.

5. The method of claim 1 :

further comprising receiving injury data for the target hand of the patient on the three-dimensional hand model at the computing device, wherein receiving injury data for the target hand comprises:

rendering the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device;

receiving user input defining a set of markers on the three-dimensional hand model via the display of the computing device;

displaying an annotation menu of injury data for each marker;

for each marker in the set of markers, receiving a selection of an annotation from the annotation menu via the display of the computing device; and

wherein receiving the diagnosis is further based on the injury data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein deforming the interior surface of the initial hand brace model into alignment with the exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model comprises deforming the interior surface of the initial hand brace model into alignment with the exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model based on a specified wall thickness for the custom hand brace model.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the custom hand brace model at the computing device further comprises:

rendering the initial hand brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device;

for each phalange, in a set of phalanges, of the three-dimensional hand model:

rendering a virtual slider along a length of the phalange and a corresponding section on the initial hand brace model;

rendering a virtual pointer on the virtual slider; and

in response to user input adjusting a position of the virtual pointer along the virtual slider, adjusting a length of the corresponding section on the initial hand brace model; and

storing the adjusted hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the custom hand brace model at the computing device further comprises:

rendering the initial hand brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device;

receiving a selection of a pixel location on the initial hand brace model via the display of the computing device;

receiving an annotation defining an aperture at the pixel location on the initial hand brace model via the display of the computing device;

updating the initial hand brace model to define the aperture at the pixel location; and

storing the updated hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

9. The method of claim 1 :

further comprising:

estimating a print time to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model;

estimating a cost to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the print time and a size of the custom hand brace;

predicting a delivery time for the custom hand brace based on a shipping address of the patient, the print time, and a predefined assembly time for the custom hand brace;

presenting the estimated cost and predicted delivery time on a display of the computing device; and

transmitting a prompt to confirm an order for the custom hand brace via the display of the computing device; and

wherein queuing the custom hand brace model comprises, in response to receiving confirmation of the order, queueing a three-dimensional printer to print the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model.

10. A computer-based method for generating a custom hand brace for a patient, the method comprising:

compiling optical data captured during a three-dimensional scan of a target hand of the patient into a three-dimensional hand model of the target hand at a computing device;

receiving injury data for the target hand of the patient on the three-dimensional hand model at the computing device comprising:

rendering the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device;

receiving user input defining a set of markers on the three-dimensional hand model via the display of the computing device;

displaying an annotation menu of injury data for each marker; and

for each marker in the set of markers, receiving a selection of an annotation from the annotation menu via the display of the computing device;

predicting an injury type based on the injury data at the computing device;

retrieving a hand brace type, from a set of hand brace types, based on the injury type at the computing device;

retrieving a template brace model for the hand brace type at the computing device;

overlaying the template brace model onto the three-dimensional hand model at the computing device;

deforming the template brace model into alignment with the three-dimensional hand model to calculate a custom hand brace model at the computing device; and

queuing, at the computing device, the custom hand brace model for fabricating at an advanced manufacturing system.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein compiling optical data captured during the three-dimensional scan of the target hand of the patient into the three-dimensional hand model of the target hand further comprises:

rendering the three-dimensional hand model on the display of the computing device; and

for each key feature in a set of key features on the three-dimensional hand model:

transmitting a prompt on the display of the computing device to label a key feature on the three-dimensional hand model;

receiving a selection of a pixel location on the three-dimensional hand model via the display of the computing device; and

storing the pixel location on the three-dimensional hand model as corresponding to the key feature.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein predicting the injury type based on the injury data comprises:

identifying a region of the target hand corresponding to a user annotation defining a pain area and a pain magnitude;

querying an injury table for an injury type that corresponds to the region;

storing the injury type returned by the injury table as a predicted injury type for the target hand; and

predicting a magnitude of the injury type based on a medical history of the patient and the pain magnitude.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein deforming the template brace model into alignment with the three-dimensional hand model to calculate the custom hand brace model comprises deforming an interior surface of the template brace model into alignment with an exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model based on the predicted injury type.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein deforming the template brace model into alignment with the three-dimensional hand model to calculate the custom hand brace model comprises:

rendering the template brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on the display of the computing device;

for each phalange, in a set of phalanges, of the three-dimensional hand model:

rendering a virtual slider along a length of the phalange and a corresponding section on the template brace model on the display of the computing device;

rendering a virtual pointer on the virtual slider on the display of the computing device; and

in response to user input adjusting a position of the virtual pointer along the virtual slider, adjusting a length of the corresponding section on the template brace model; and

storing the adjusted hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating the custom hand brace model at the computing device further comprises:

rendering the template brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on the display of the computing device;

receiving a selection of a pixel location on the template brace model via the display of the computing device;

receiving an annotation defining an aperture at the pixel location on the template brace model via the display of the computing device;

updating the template brace model to define the aperture at the pixel location; and

storing the updated hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

16. The method of claim 10 :

further comprising:

estimating a print time to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model;

estimating a cost to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the print time and a size of the custom hand brace;

presenting the estimated cost on the display of the computing device; and

transmitting a prompt to confirm an order for the custom hand brace via the display of the computing device; and

wherein queuing the custom hand brace model comprises, in response to receiving confirmation of the order, queueing a three-dimensional printer to print the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model.

17. A computer-based method for generating a custom hand brace for a patient, the method comprising:

retrieving a three-dimensional hand model of a target hand of the patient at a computing device;

receiving injury data for the target hand of the patient on the three-dimensional hand model at the computing device comprising:

rendering the three-dimensional hand model on a display of the computing device;

receiving user input defining a set of markers on the three-dimensional hand model via the display of the computing device;

displaying an annotation menu of injury data for each marker; and

for each marker in the set of markers, receiving a selection of an annotation from the annotation menu via the display of the computing device;

predicting an injury type based on the injury data at the computing device;

based on the predicted injury type, generating a custom hand brace model at the computing device by:

automatically extracting a first set of points from the three-dimensional hand model to generate an initial hand brace model, wherein a portion of the first set of points corresponds to a key feature including at least one of a fingertip, an interphalangeal joint, an ulnar styloid process, or a radial styloid process;

forming an interior surface of the initial hand brace model based on the first set of points; and

deforming the interior surface of the initial hand brace model into alignment with an exterior surface of the three-dimensional hand model to generate the custom hand brace model; and

queuing, at the computing device, the custom hand brace model for fabricating at an advanced manufacturing system.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the custom hand brace model at the computing device further comprises:

rendering the initial hand brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on the display of the computing device;

for each phalange, in a set of phalanges, of the three-dimensional hand model:

rendering a virtual slider along a length of the phalange and a corresponding section on the initial hand brace model;

rendering a virtual pointer on the virtual slider; and

in response to user input adjusting a position of the virtual pointer along the virtual slider, adjusting a length of the corresponding section on the initial hand brace model; and

storing the adjusted hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein generating the custom hand brace model at the computing device further comprises:

rendering the initial hand brace model overlaid onto the three-dimensional hand model on the display of the computing device;

receiving a selection of a pixel location on the initial hand brace model via the display of the computing device;

receiving an annotation defining an aperture at the pixel location on the initial hand brace model via the display of the computing device;

updating the initial hand brace model to define the aperture at the pixel location; and

storing the updated hand brace model as the custom hand brace model.

20. The method of claim 17 :

further comprising:

estimating a print time to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model;

estimating a cost to fabricate the custom hand brace based on the print time and a size of the custom hand brace;

presenting the estimated cost on the display of the computing device; and

transmitting a prompt to confirm an order for the custom hand brace via the display of the computing device; and

wherein queuing the custom hand brace model comprises, in response to receiving confirmation of the order via the display of the computing device, queueing a three-dimensional printer to print the custom hand brace based on the custom hand brace model.