Design, Engineering, Clinical Passion, and the Future of Patient Managed Comfort with Alex Dahinten
We break down what we saw at RAPID, from vapor smoothing and metal printing to reinforcement methods and silicone printing that could reshape interfaces. Then we talk with Alex Dahinten about building better socket comfort through real time adjustability and what it takes to get a new prosthetic solution into clinics through Medicare coding. • Vapor smoothing as a path to cleaner looking 3D printed parts and the safety tradeoffs behind different chemicals • What a smaller HP powder bed fusion machine could mean for clinic workflows and cost per part • Foil based metal manufacturing as an alternative to powder handling for tight tolerance small parts • Reinforcing thermoplastics by injecting fiber and resin into printed channels and why pricing matters We then hear: • Alex’s path from biomedical engineering into prosthetics and orthotics • Upper limb prosthetics as systems integration with higher costs and heavier follow up burden • Capacity building in global health as the difference between short term missions and sustainable care • Why the socket interface drives outcomes and how compliance improves comfort without losing energy transfer • Ethnocare’s Overlay air bladder sleeve for residual limb volume management and the doffing effect problem • Medicare L5657 and the impact of a fee schedule on clinician and patient access Special thanks to Advanced 3D for sponsoring this episode.