Andiamo is a health tech company creating 3D printed braces, set up by parents honoring their son who died from cerebral palsy complications.

In 2012, Diamo Parvez was just nine years old when he died from complications with cerebral palsy. This disorder results in a painful tightening of muscles that often requires orthoses — splints and braces — to support the body.

Throughout Diamo’s life, parents Samiya and Naveed had difficulty finding effective and comfortable orthoses. This meant regular trips to the hospital for fittings. Plaster casting is one part of this procedure.

Speaking of the hospital visits, Samiya said:

“We saw how much our son hated being pinned down for the plaster — he would scream and scream and it was a real struggle. I know kids who break down and start crying if their parents even drive past a hospital because they think they’re going to get a plaster cast.”

In all, the process could take up to six months to get right. Being young, Diamo would grow quickly and he would need to go through the procedure many times per year.

After Daimo’s passing his parents established a company, Andiamo, in honor of their son. Focusing on the well-being of those who require the fittings, Andiamo makes use of 3D scanning and printing technologies. Travelling to patients, the scanning process to create new supports is more efficient than traditional methods.

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Creating Andiamo

A year after Diamo died, Naveed attended a tech conference. There, he saw a talk about using 3D scanning and printing to create parts for steam trains. This sparked the idea for Andiamo.

“The new parts were so accurate that the scratches in the paintwork of the original were perfectly reflected in the print,” Naveed explains. “I had a lightbulb moment — not just because of the technology but because of the realization that all that pain could be turned to good.”

It took just one year from this “lightbulb moment” for the family to create a prototype.

Naveed and Samiya successfully crowdfunded Andiamo in 2014 on Indiegogo. The goal is to provide high-quality, rapidly produced orthotics. Joined by CTO Lee Provoost, Andiamo’s target after successfully establishing in the UK, their home market, is to provide supports to those in need around the world.

How the Parvez Family Help Others

UK-based charity The Nominet Trust is currently working with Andiamo to fund a cloud-based clinician network. Noteworthy, because specialists then have access to patient-measurements and data sets for rapid iteration. This is a common benefit of the 3D printing workflow.

By using 3D scanning and printing, Andiamo aims to cut waiting times for orthoses from six months to 48 hours. So far they’ve brought it down to two weeks. In addition, thanks to 3D scanning and printing, the orthoses fit better, are lightweight and less bulky.

For a company determined to rapidly improve the lives of many, in addition to honoring Diamo, Andiamo translates to “let’s go” in Italian. “If we can reduce another family’s and make life a bit better for someone else, it’s worth it.” says Naveed.

Source: BBC