OPTIMUS3D

Optimus 3D is made up of a team of engineers specialized in Additive Technology. They have their own fleet of industrial 3D printers, state-of-the-art equipment that provides optimal solutions to the needs of each customer.

At Optimus 3D, they transform the design of final products to achieve lighter, safer and more efficient structures.

• They apply additive manufacturing to obtain the greatest profitability to their projects.
• They develop medical devices tailored to the patient.

Rhizarthrosis is one of the most common degenerative alterations of the hand that causes pain and decreases functional capacity. An injury, moreover, that is becoming more and more common due to the use of mobile phones, mice and tablets. Following the indications of a traumatology team, TECNALIA and OPTIMUS3D have developed a splint for its treatment, but in severe cases it is not enough to mitigate the pain.

“So we have gone a step further, designing an active splint with an integrated electrostimulator treatment. A unique rehabilitation system today,” explains the technical manager of medical devices at OPTIMUS 3D.

This is where the collaboration between TECNALIA and OPTIMUS3D Health comes in. A project based on obtaining a system with which to validate within a clinical research the improvement of the therapeutic behavior of this orthosis.

“Thus, we have developed and tested in healthy subjects an electrical stimulation system composed of electrodes integrated into the splints, which are in contact with the patient’s skin transferring the signals from the electrostimulator,” says Erik Hernández, Medical Technologies project manager at TECNALIA.

These preliminary tests allowed to corroborate that hand musculature had become stronger through specific daily training and provided on-demand relief of pain caused by rhizarthrosis.

Consequently, thanks to this collaboration, they were able to come up with an innovative solution with a double impact:

• On the one hand, it has provided a business opportunity by adding a new, unique medical device to our portfolio of products.
• And, on the other, it has provided a form of treatment than conventional treatment that prevents muscles from weakening, reduces pain and, ultimately, improves the lives of people suffering from rhizarthrosis.