Protective patient footwear design and manufacturing system and methods

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a design and manufacturing system for protective patient footwear, as well as related methods. The system includes suitable hardware, software, and related peripherals, which function to acquire data related to the patient's particular footwear needs, such as by three-dimensional scanning. A design subsystem interfaces with the inputted data to permit the resulting design to reflect particular foot conditions in the design and subsequent manufacturing process. A manufacturing subsystem receives the resulting design and includes hardware and software to manufacture the protective patient footwear.

1 . A computerized system for the automated design and manufacture of patient protective footwear, comprising:
 a scanning subsystem including a user interface and a lower extremity scanner, the scanning subsystem adapted to receive input related to a patient's lower extremity for which protective footwear is to be designed and manufactured;   a design engine implemented on a computer having programmable memory and at least one processor that executes instructions stored in the programmable memory, wherein the design engine is programmed to process the lower extremity input into a design for the protective footwear, wherein the design engine is programmed to alter the design in response to receiving inputs indicating at least one of the conditions selected from the group consisting of dermatologic conditions, orthopedic conditions, neurological conditions, biomechanical conditions, surgical conditions, and wherein the design engine generates an outputted design in which the one or more conditions are reflected in the outputted design; and   a computer-aided manufacturing subsystem programmed to receive data related to the outputted design and manufacture the protective footwear corresponding to the outputted design.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a virtual last creation subsystem for generating a virtual last from the outputted design, the virtual last comprising data suitable for input into the computer-aided manufacturing subsystem. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the patient protective footwear comprises a brace, boot, or cast. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the design engine and the scanning subsystem includes first suitable programming to generate design data for the protective footwear corresponding to at least one accommodation for a prior toe amputation. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the design engine and the scanning subsystem includes second suitable programming to generate design data for the protective footwear corresponding to at least one accommodation for a prior history selected from the group consisting of an ulceration and a wound in the plantar surface of a second metatarsal-phalangeal joint. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the design data generated by the second suitable programming corresponds to at least one accommodation selected from the group consisting of a substitution of alternate insole materials to account for a loss of elasticity or a lack of impact absorption, inclusion of friction-reducing insole top cover materials; and modification of insole dimensions associated with a location of the wound or ulceration. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the design engine and the scanning subsystem is configured to suggest a plurality of modifications to the design in response to receiving data corresponding to a foot condition to be accommodated. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the design engine and the scanning subsystem is configured to receive a selection of one of the plurality of modifications to the design, and the programming of the design engine includes instructions to modify the design in response to the selection of the modification. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-implemented method of designing and manufacturing patient protective footwear comprising the steps of
 scanning a patient's lower extremity to detect dimensions related to the protective footwear to be designed and manufactured;   receiving inputs indicating at least one of the lower extremity conditions selected from the group consisting of dermatologic conditions, orthopedic conditions, neurological conditions, biomechanical conditions, and surgical conditions   generating a design in which the one or more conditions corresponding to the inputs received are reflected in the design; and   manufacturing the protective footwear based on the design.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further including the step of creating a virtual last from the design, the virtual last comprising data suitable for input into the step of manufacturing the protective footwear. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the protective footwear comprises a brace, boot, or cast. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of generating a design includes the step of generating design data corresponding to at least one accommodation for a prior history selected from the group consisting of an ulceration and a wound in the plantar surface of a second metatarsal-phalangeal joint. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of generating a design includes the step of generating design data corresponding to at least one accommodation for a hammer toe condition. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of generating a design includes the step of generating a plurality of potential modifications to the design in response to receiving of inputs. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of generating a design includes receiving a selection input a selected one of the plurality of modifications to the design and modifying the design in response to the selection of the modification. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the step of determining from the dimensions scanned by the scanning step whether the dimensions detected correspond to any one of a plurality of lower extremity conditions to be accommodated in a footwear design, wherein the step of generating a design, in response to a determination of a condition to be accommodated, further includes the step of modifying potential features of the design to accommodate the detected condition.