Vacuum Formed
- Konrad Job
This guide will help you understand how to prescribe Vacuum Formed orthoses using LaserCAM Prescribe software.
Overview
Using this Guide
Our LaserCAM Prescribe software has a number of available pages that are selectable from the left-hand menu. This prescription guide will follow this menu structure, making it incredibly simple to find relevant information. Simply use our menu on the left-hand side to navigate to the appropriate section of the prescription guide.
What are Vacuum Formed Orthoses?
Vacuum Formed orthoses are orthoses manufactured from polypropylene, or an alternative thermoforming plastic using using a vacuum press.
Our RapidShell3DÂ software generates numerical control (NC) toolpaths that allow for the machining of foot positives.
A specified thermoplastic Shell Material is then heated (below melting point), placed on the surface of the foot positive and then vacuumed around the foot positive to create a Vacuum Formed orthosis.
Vacuum Formed orthoses exhibit different mechanical properties than direct-machined orthoses manufactured from the same material. This is due to changes in the physical composition of the material that occurs as a result of the rapid biaxial deformation that occurs during the thermoforming process. It should be noted that materials should be heated within recommended temperature ranges to prevent thermal degradation.
Please consult your material provider for more specific information.
Benefits of Vacuum Formed Orthoses
Vacuum Formed orthoses offer the following benefits.
 Polypropylene has been utilised for many decades in the manufacture of orthoses and is generally well understood.
 Ability to utilise multiple densities of materials via the vacuum forming process.
 Difficult to achieve full-length intrinsic features in comparison to Machined EVA orthoses.
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