3D Printing a finger splint

A friend of mine was visiting in December of 2019, and somewhere on the journey here, she broke her finger. The airports along her route didn’t have the facilities to fix her finger properly, so they simply wrapped it up and sent her onwards. Nuts!

She spent about 37 hours in transit, and by the time she arrived here, she was at the absolute edges of exhaustion. I knew she would want - nay, need - at least 24 additional hours to rest and recover from her ordeal, before she would have the strength to travel to a hospital. Of course, in that time, a lot could go wrong with her finger; top of my mind was the fear that she might sleep on it and it would set at some strange angle by the time she woke up. So on the drive back, I hatched a little plan. Upon our return home, I brewed us each a cup of coffee, and then spent a little time scouring the internet for a 3D model of a finger splint. Fortunately, I was not the first human being to have wondered about this, and so not only was my research short, but my horizons were slightly expanded, too! Let me explain.

Image taken from thingiverse.com

This is not my friends’ actual finger. We didn’t have the foresight to photograph it, for some reason…

On the Thingiverse database, I found a fantastic little 3D model for a single-finger splint. It was a simple, print-flat model that wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to print out, which ticked the box for an immediate solution for my friends’ already-ailing finger. It provided finger-tip support, and was scaleable, so it would fit any size of finger. Great! Additionally… it came along with a very useful little note, that went something like this:

“print out this little splint in PLA and then dunk it in boiled water for a few seconds to soften it; then mould it to your finger.”

Now… despite having used PLA in 3D printing for over 3 years… I had never had a reason to heat it… I felt quite foolish for not knowing this already… but also felt rather elated that I suddenly knew it now. Somewhere along the road, this newly discovered material property would be of use to me. For the moment, it was important to provide aid to my friends’ finger. So, without further ado, I went ahead and printed out the splint, dunked it in hot water for a few seconds, and then - carefully! - moulded it over her finger. Much to our mutual delight, it wrapped it snugly, and cooled off within a few seconds, to form a safe, firm cage around her finger.

We were both immensely relieved, because it meant that she need have no fear about accidentally making things worse while she slept her exhaustion off… and we were both also delighted to be employing our college training to finally do something of practical value in the real world!

I cannot stress how awesome it was to have a customizable solution available for print - for print!! - in the wee hours of the morning, when no one would be awake to help out. I am quite surprised that 3D printing has not taken ff in a big way but, I am delighted and proud to own one myself; I feel that not only can it mend broken bones, but can change the way we deal with consumerism.