WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A North Carolina university is making history with its occupational therapy curriculum. 

What You Need To Know

  • WSSU is the first university in the U.S. to train its occupational therapy students on the technology to 3D print splints for patients

  • Dr. Chinno Ingram said it will save patients money and allow them more face-to-face time with their doctors

  • WSSU will offer this training in its occupational therapy program starting in spring 2024

Winston-Salem State University is the first university in the U.S. to train its occupational therapy students on the technology to 3D print splints for patients, the university said in a news release. WSSU is using a 3D printer in tandem with a platform, made by a company called Spentys, to scan, model, correct joint angles in its workflow and create a file that can be used to print a splint.

Dr. Chinno Ingram, a clinical associate professor in WSSU’s Department of Occupational Therapy, said 3D printing has been a part of WSSU’s OT Department since 2018. However, using the technology to print splints for patients is a new frontier.

“We’re on the ground floor of this,” Ingram said. “Our students will have an advantage when it comes to knowing how to operate technology like this, and once the masses understand the cost efficiency and the time that they’re going to save using this type of technology, it may lend our students to being able to have jobs in technology in addition to the OT process.” 

The traditional method of creating splints is a time-consuming process that typically costs a few hundred dollars, Ingram said. The combination of the Spentys technology and the 3D printer can potentially allow them to produce completed splints in less than 24 hours, and the material can be flexible or rigid, depending on patient needs. 

Second-year occupational therapy students Genesis Woods-Chance and Paul Neal are both part of the university’s chapter of The Helping Hand Project, which prints assistive tools to help people accomplish tasks, ranging from carrying groceries to holding a toothbrush. Ingram said they are part of the effort to spearhead 3D printing efforts at WSSU. He explained that Woods-Chance and Neal are learning how to use the splint technology now so they can help teach other students. 

“I'm really grateful for it because not many other places offer this type of experience. It's nice to be one of the first kind of making ground into this industry as far as being able to print stuff off right then and there,” Neal said. 

WSSU will offer the training in its occupational therapy program starting in spring 2024.