Anyone who has had an arm cast knows the importance of good fit, which is typically accomplished thanks to the material being soft when it’s applied. In the not too distant future, 3D printed casts may become popular because of a variety of advantages. To make such casts, scans of the arm will be required and a Dutch student named Pieter Smakman has created just the thing. Using cheap laser pointers, 32 cameras, and powered by a Raspberry Pi computer, the system is able to precisely digitize the hand and fingers. While such scanning is not new, the hand can be somewhat challenging to scan because of multiple fingers each of which has to be properly covered by the lasers.

The cheap solution may also help in fitting prosthetic and orthotic devices and other medical tools to each individual patient.

Check out this video that demonstrates the Curatio scanner:

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