Developing PROTECT3D Solution for Rapid Delivery of Patient-Specific MSKI Bracing to DoD Needs

PROTECT3D, Inc. is optimizing its revolutionary personalized medical device platform for adoption in military environments and medical treatment facilities to assist recovery from musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) and accelerate return-to-duty. MSKIs represent a significant burden to the U.S. military, with over 800,000 military service members affected per year. MSKIs in the military are the cause of approximately 2.2 million medical visits, 25 million lost duty days, and $3.7 billion in healthcare costs annually. MSKI is also the most frequent medical diagnosis among new U.S. military recruits and the leading cause of attrition from Basic Military Training (BMT). Sprains and strains accounted for 34% of all acute injuries for military service members in 2020, with the lower and upper extremities identified as the most common regions affected by acute injury. Noncombat MSKIs account for approximately 30% of all medical evacuations, making them the leading cause of service member evacuations and reducing the medical readiness of forces in combat environments. Therefore, there is an urgent and present need to improve the quality of care for MSKIs in all military environments. Traditional bracing and splinting solutions for the treatment of MSKI require both military and civilian physicians to continuously maintain a stock of a variety of medical devices, each in a range of sizes, in order to be prepared for the emergent needs of their patients. In military facilities with limited storage capabilities, reduced stock of certain types of braces may limit the quality of care that can be distributed to injured service members, contributing to more frequent medical evacuations for relatively minor injuries. For civilian patients using off-the-shelf bracing solutions, the discomfort associated with ill-fitting generic braces frequently contributes to treatment non-compliance. For instance, one systematic review found that between 6-80% of patients prescribed orthotic devices reported not wearing them, with the highest rates of noncompliance found for ankle-foot orthoses and the lowest rates for custom-made orthopedic shoes. This finding emphasizes the potential benefits of increasing patient access to custom-fit orthoses to improve patient compliance and, ultimately, their successful rehabilitation following MSKI. ???????PROTECT3D, Inc. is using proprietary 3D technology to deliver novel MSKI bracing products and technologies to market. These technologies focus on a process of capturing a 3D scan of patient anatomy, rapidly generating a digital model of the desired product that fits the anatomy precisely, and using 3D printing to manufacture a physical product at great speed. PROTECT3D is the industry leader of this technology in the world of elite sports medicine and is translating that success to impact healthcare providers in all environments.