Get Scanned by Virtalis!

Scanning of objects is useful if you want to reverse engineer a product/model to create a virtual one or if you work in the medical sector. We are currently very excited about the possibilities of really changing the way prosthetists, orthotists and other medical staff carry out their work with patients.

Method of use & case study

Plaster casting is the traditional method of fitting custom orthotics and prosthetics. This procedure can be messy, irritating, time consuming and may also cause trauma associated with manipulating post-surgical patients.

Using the FastSCAN Cobra, enables image capture of limbs, head or torso to occur in a rapid and accurate fashion for all patients in a variety of settings. The compact, portable laser scanner works by casting a fan of laser light over the person’s limb, head, or body, while the camera on the wand views the laser to record a cross-sectional profile of the object.

To allow for patient movement during scanning, the Cobra employs two embedded motion-tracking devices. The practitioner attaches a small receiver to the patient, close to the area being scanned. This receiver works with the embedded motion-tracking device to determine the position and orientation of the scanner’s wand, relative to the body part being scanned. The practitioner then scans the part of the body being fit for a device by smoothly sweeping the handheld laser scanning wand over the body part, in a manner similar to spray painting, enabling the computer to reconstruct the full 3D surface of the object.

Laser scanners provide patients with highly accurate, well fitting devices, as well as significant improvements in comfort, convenience and timesavings. The scans are accurate to within one millimetre and the three-dimensional feature gives detailed surface information often lost with a cast or mechanical digitizer. The data forms a permanent patient record that allows for rapid refitting and adjustments, the justification of medical necessity for a new device and better patient/physician information exchange.