Imagine breaking a finger and having a customized, fashionable splint for healing. That is the goal of the 3D Printing Jointed Customizable Splints Creative Inquiry project led by Dr. Tyler Harvey from the Department of Bioengineering. The project was initiated by senior bioengineering majors Hunter Jimenez, Jackie Hanna and Jacob Lautenschlager. “I think as engineers, we’re naturally problem solvers. We were looking for hands-on research in CIs and decided to create our own when we recognized that there was a need in the medical industry for solutions incorporating innovative technology like 3D printing,” Jiminez said.
The team collaborates with clinicians at the Prisma Hand Center in Greenville to determine the gaps between patient needs and currently available technologies. They identify issues such as patients removing their splints when using a phone. Then, they consider the design and functionality of splints, with specific consideration given to patients’ desire to remove their splints for everyday activities such as driving or cooking. “They [clinicians] reiterated that [patients discarding the splints] is a huge problem that they encounter all of the time; they just don’t have the time to address it,” Jiminez said. Clinicians also reported that taking off the splints prolongs the time to heal. “When they had those splints off, the deformity would occur again,” Lautenschlager, a senior bioengineering student, said.
The Creative Inquiry team then creates their own designs. By designing with style and functionality in mind, they hope patients will be more inclined to keep their splints on for the duration of their injury.
Through this Creative Inquiry project, the students learned valuable techniques in product design and problem-solving, specifically in relation to 3D printing. They worked through issues surrounding the finger’s swelling at different stages of the healing process, including each phase of healing in their designs. In the future, they hope to test on subjects with various finger sizes and streamline their process.
“This [CI] has given me the chance to go beyond hardcore science classes and actually apply it to something real,” Hanna said. The students appreciate the opportunity to network with clinicians, apply their knowledge from class and design products to solve real-world problems.

CONTACT
Barbara J. Speziale
Director
(864)656-1550
bjspz@clemson.edu
Cora Allard-Keese
Assistant Director
(864)656-0721
callara@clemson.edu