SITUATION
Original, CAD and Internal Features
Medical training programs are the cornerstone of successful medical practice. This client, a developer of medical training products, lost its only supplier of the PediaSIM® airway, leaving them with physical models but no CAD data and no way to manufacture them. Not wanting to completely redevelop the product, they sought to reverse engineer CAD data from the limited number of physical parts they had left.
The client made several attempts to reverse engineer the design. However, the internal features seemed to be impossible to capture with conventional scanning techniques. The detail of the hollow rubber esophagus and mouth would need to be captured from the inside out while preserving the original shape.
SOLUTION
Teeth and Scan Data
The first challenge posed to our team was capturing the internal features. Our team’s breakthrough development of Soft Internal Non-Contact Scanning (SINCS™) allowed us to effectively see through the part. Using a special new compound (SINCOR™), our team captured and scanned the internal features with the Konica Minolta VIVID 9i. After scanning the external features, the two data sets were combined to generate a complete scan model. Our team reverse engineered this scan data to create CAD data, which fully captured the organic detail of both the external and internal features.
The second challenge was to design a rubber head and dental region and integrate them with the esophagus and mouth. Scan data of an actual child’s face was reverse engineered to create CAD data, which was redesigned to fit perfectly with the esophagus and mouth. Our team also reverse engineered teeth made from dental impressions, which were sized and fit to the mouth.
RESULTS
Cross Section
Our team’s breakthrough development of the SINCS™ system enabled us to perform scanning services that would have otherwise been impossible. By using 3D scanning rather than redesigning the product, the client was able to significantly shorten the design process down to three months. The 3D scanning solution resulted in PediaSIM® retaining all the organic details present in the original.
Our team’s reverse engineering services enabled this client to manufacture an enhanced version of the ultra-realistic PediaSIM®, which will be used to train the next generation of doctors, physicians, and medical professionals around the globe.