ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the application of 3D printing technology to the upper limb production through a systematic review and to summarize and analyze the necessary information to provide basic basis for future clinical application in the field of occupational therapy. Methods: For the last five years from 2013 to 2017, the articles were searched using electronic databases RISS, KISS, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar. As a search keyword, '3D Printing AND Orthosis OR Splint OR Brace' was used. The searched article were classified through the second classification and finally 16 article were selected and analyzed Results: About 80% of the article to be analyzed were single-target experimental studies and case studies with lower quality. As a result of analyzing the producers major, it was divided into four major categories. Among them, the engineering department was the most, followed by the health department. Six types of upper splint were manufactured. Cock-up splint and finger splint were made the most. ABS was the most commonly used plastic material. There are four manufacturing methods used in the analyzed article, and the most used manufacturing method is the FDM method. As a method of measurement, 3D scanners were the most popular method to manufactured upper splint. Conclusion: In this study, we learned how to make upper splint using 3D printing technology. Based on this, I would like to provide basic data for applying 3D printing technology to manufactured the upper splint which is one of the occupational therapist's job scope. I would like to present a direction for future research. Based on the results of this study, it is expected that the development and research of upper splint applying 3D printing technology in occupational therapy field will be more active.