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International Journal of Bioprinting 3D printing of custom mallet splints

and the other bent the finger throughout the course of mallet splints for the treatment of mallet finger injury. The
the study. This was an unfortunate misunderstanding and patients and a specialist hand OT felt that they would use
one that reinforces the importance of ensuring patients the 3D-printed splint over the generic Stack splint if needed
fully understand how to care for their injury before being again. 3D printing has been demonstrated as a viable method
discharged. for producing bespoke devices for patients with mallet injury,
albeit on a small scale. There is potential for 3D printing
4.5. Implications of findings to produce mallet injury splints, which could provide an
This pilot study has shown a clinical benefit of 3D printing enhanced clinical offering over traditional splinting methods.
splints to treat mallet injuries, albeit in a small cohort. By using patient-centered, bespoke 3D printing capabilities,
Within the Irish healthcare system, custom splinting is not the management of mallet injuries can be improved and
widely available because specialist roles are not broadly in custom splinting offered to a wider population.
place. This leads to delays in custom splinting, or patients
being provided with a generic Stack splint for the duration Acknowledgments
of their treatment.

This study provides initial evidence to support custom None.
splinting for hand injuries, emphasizing that patients
deserve custom splinting to support healing, comfort, and Funding
recovery from their injuries. Using 3D-printed bespoke This publication has emanated from research supported by
37
mallet splints provides a custom fit and therefore improves Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Numbers
access to custom care that is otherwise currently limited. SFI 16/RC/3918 co-funded by the European Regional
To that end, offering 3D-printed mallet splints in EDs and Development Fund.
IUs should be considered. By expanding research beyond
the current offering of feasibility and pilot studies, a focus Conflict of interest
on clinical outcomes of 3D-printed mallet splints on a
wider scale could provide the data-driven evidence needed The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
to change the current healthcare splinting options.
Author contributions
4.6. Future work Conceptualization: Damien Ryan
There are some further research considerations arising Formal analysis: Kevin J. O’Sullivan
from this study. Patient and clinician acceptance along Funding acquisition: Leonard W. O’Sullivan
with clinical efficacy were the key areas of focus for this Investigation: Una M. Cronin, Aidan O’Sullivan,
pilot study. One consideration is the cost implications of Margo Sheerin
3D-printed mallet splints versus generic Stack splints. Project administration: Una M. Cronin
A health economics review of the resources, equipment, Resources: Aidan O’Sullivan
and infrastructure required to implement 3D printing of Supervision: Niamh Cummins, Damien Ryan, Leonard
mallet splints is beyond the scope of this current study, but
future studies should consider this. Other areas for further W. O’Sullivan
consideration include: Validation: Kevin J. O’Sullivan
Visualization: Una M. Cronin
• An optimal method to measure mallet fingers for Writing – original draft: Una M. Cronin
3D printing Writing – review and editing: Una M. Cronin, Aidan

• The ventilation of 3D-printed mallet splints O’Sullivan, Kevin J. O’Sullivan, Niamh Cummins,
Damien Ryan, Leonard W. O’Sullivan
• Methods of securing the splint
• Finding the optimum 3D printing material for Ethics approval and consent to participate
use in the printing of mallet splints This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee

• Defining the process for providing 3D-printed of ULHG (Reference 087/2022). Written informed consent
mallet splints outside the research realm was obtained from all participants prior to the study.

5. Conclusions Consent for publication
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome along Patients were given and requested to read Patient
with patient and HCP acceptance of bespoke 3D-printed Information Leaflets before signing consent forms.

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 528 doi: 10.36922/ijb.1963