title: Dilatancy-based impression and fabrication technique for custom foot orthoses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Current methods used to take impressions for custom foot orthoses include plaster bandage, foam box, fiberglass, and laser-optical scanner. Impressions are converted to positive plaster or foam models. These methods create waste and may not be feasible in resource-limited areas. This technical note presents an alternative, greener impression and fabrication technique for foot orthoses that utilizes the dilatancy principle.
  
  
  METHODS
  Steps of the dilatancy (vacuum-based) procedure include taking an impression of the foot, converting the negative mold to a positive sand model, modifying the positive sand model, and thermoforming the foot orthosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This plaster-less system is inexpensive to set up and maintain, is reusable thereby minimizing cost and waste, and is clean to use. It enables a practitioner to quickly take an impression for fabricating a foot orthosis in a short period of time during a single clinic visit by the patient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The dilatancy casting system could potentially be a cheaper, faster, and greener alternative procedure for fabricating custom foot orthoses in both developing and developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, Chicago, IL, USA larissa-conner@fsm.northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Larissa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sletto
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Yeongchi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000379:methods*; D061826:Foot Orthoses; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D057285:Precision Medicine; D012775:Shoes; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
keywords: Foot; custom; dilatancy; fabrication; impression; modification; orthosis; vacuum-based