Outlook Magazine - Fall 2024

3D-PRINTED & ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR VETERANS

Designed by Drew Davis (’07)

n the fourth floor of the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center, with a panoramic view of the Mississippi River valley,

the culmination of my career experience. Helping the veterans makes the job worth it,” Davis said. The collection in the high-tech, 3D print lab includes, for example: one veteran’s aorta 3D-printed in exact detail that a doctor used to explain what had to be fixed; a half-scale head with a face that can be peeled away to reveal the extent of damaged bone. Davis uses software that takes CT and MRI data, captured by a radiologist, and generates 3D printable files of patient anatomy. He then optimizes the 3D printer settings to print bone and tissue structures. The foot on the counter is part of an ankle-foot system designed for veterans with a prosthesis. The system is attached to the wearer at the end of the prosthetic socket. It slips into a 3D printed foot that is designed for a specific heel height. The veteran can bring in a pair of shoes and walk away with a prosthetic foot for

an office countertop holds a seemingly macabre collection of plastic models: A foot, hand and forearm, a heart, part of a spine, a lower jaw and other small, novel devices. To the visitor, they’re just that. To their creator, Drew Davis (’07) , they are so much more. They are re-creations of actual body parts of veterans based on their MRIs and CT scans. He and the VA’s RECOVER team have brought them — along with adaptive technology devices — to life and in the process have given hope to veterans. At RECOVER, veterans are included in the design process, whether it’s a novel design or adaptive technology. “We take their input and make it real. We’re more of a hacker space. It’s a really cool job,

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University of Wisconsin-Stout