3D Printing at Good Shepherd Empowers Therapists and Patients

In this Rehab Management podcast episode, Chief Editor Melanie Hamilton-Basich is joined by Amanda Clark, PT, DPT, NCS, director of Good Shepherd Creates at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, Pa, to discuss how they’ll be using 3D printing to make custom creations to help their patients.

In her role, Amanda works to incorporate technological innovations that can enhance patient care and outcomes – including 3D printing using the new printer that will be part of Good Shepherd’s new rehabilitation hospital in Center Valley, Pa, scheduled to open later in 2023.

 Amanda Clark, PT, DPT, NCS, is the director of Good Shepherd Creates at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, Pa. Amanda champions innovation at all levels of the organization by helping to create a culture of curiosity and identifying current and emerging technology trends that can enhance patient care and outcomes. She helps to ensure that Good Shepherd keeps innovation at the forefront to better serve the community.

Amanda received her Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Geneseo and her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical University. Amanda began her career at Good Shepherd 10 years ago as a physical therapist, predominantly on the stroke unit of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital, where she later served as the specialty stroke program co-chair. After obtaining her board certification as a neurologic certified specialist, Amanda became director of Good Shepherd’s physical therapy neurologic residency.

Related:

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Officially Names 3D Printer

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Wants You to Help Name Their 3D Printer

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network Celebrates New Hospital with Beam-Signing Event

Podcast Transcript

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

Welcome to this Rehab Management podcast episode. This is Melanie Hamilton-Basich, chief Editor of Rehab Management and Physical Therapy Products. Today I’m joined by Amanda Clark, PT, DPT, NCS, director of Good Shepherd Creates at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In her role, Amanda works to incorporate technological innovations that can enhance patient care and outcomes, including the 3D printer she’s going to tell us about today, which will be part of Good Shepherd’s new rehabilitation hospital in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, scheduled to open this year. Welcome, Amanda.

Amanda Clark:

Hi, Melanie. Thank you for having me here today.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

You must be excited about the opportunity to use a 3D printer to create custom products for patients. What immediate goals do you have for the use of Good Shepherd’s new printer? Are there certain patient populations that you see benefiting from particular types of custom-printed products?

Amanda Clark:

Yes, we are definitely excited about implementing 3D printing within our service line here at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation. Some of our initial goals are really around training and education, so we have hired a 3D printing clinical specialist internally here at Good Shepherd, who is also a physical therapist by background as well. So we’ve both made some big career shifts this past year-

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

That’s great.

Amanda Clark:

So we’ve really been using this time to help her become as proficient and competent as possible in operating the 3D printer, learning how to do CAD design, computer-aided design, which is the type of design work needed to create 3D-printed objects, and really starting to hone in her skills so that we’re prepared for the launch of our 3D experience. She has also started already creating some educational models for clinicians, like a vestibular apparatus, a shoulder, and even a larynx and trachea that our respiratory therapists have been using to teach tracheostomy care to patients with a tracheostomy.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

Wow.

Amanda Clark:

The beauty of 3D printing, really, is that it is applicable to anyone. So whether it’s someone who has experienced a traumatic neurologic injury, someone living with a chronic illness, or even someone recovering from a planned surgery, we have the ability to make very generic devices that might just be slightly better variations of an off-the-shelf option, or it can be a completely customized device based on a person’s unique presentation, or their needs or goals. So for example, if someone has limited hand dexterity or endurance, whether that’s from arthritis or a neurologic injury, we can make a whole assortment of modified grips, handles, buttons, for opening doors, using their seatbelt, dressing, writing, feeding, and much more. There are a lot of one-handed devices for someone with hemiplegia, whether that’s from stroke or brain injury or cerebral palsy, to be able to put toothpaste on a toothbrush one-handed, to knit one-handed, to put undergarments on one-handed. And of course, there is a whole plethora of wheelchair accessories, and smartphone and tablet accessories. And those really are just the tip of the iceberg. We’re really only confined by our creativity, our imagination, and some of the technological constraints of 3D printing.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

So are therapists themselves coming up with ideas for the products the printer creates, and are they the ones operating the printer?

Amanda Clark:

It’s a little bit of both. So we’re going to have a combination of therapists being able to choose from already-existing ideas. There are a lot of open-source databases, where you can download the files needed to 3D-print devices for free, and then we’ll be coming up with completely unique designs as well. So we have a process set up that therapists can access, that catalog of already-created designs. Or, as I mentioned, we have a 3D printing clinical specialist, so we are putting a system in place that treating clinicians can refer to, Caitlin, our clinical specialist, who can work with a treating clinician to evaluate a patient and help come up with a solution that might be a possible option for them. So what this might look like is, potentially a treating therapist has a patient with a rotator cuff injury who’s reporting difficulty brushing their hair. So between the treating clinician and our 3D printing specialist, they can evaluate range of motion, strength, endurance, just like you typically would in a therapy evaluation or session.

But then she can also look at potentially some tools they’re already using, and then help work on designing a tool from scratch on the computer, using that CAD design that we talked about. Printing it, prototyping it with the patient, making modifications as necessary, and ultimately delivering it to the patient to use at home. It’s really not all that different from what therapists have been doing for a long time. I’m sure a lot of us are known to be very creative and MacGyver a lot of solutions for our patients. But the beauty of using a 3D printer in this process is that we can create devices that are more durable, cost-effective, and more quickly and easily modifiable, either between prototypes or as a patient’s presentation changes as well. And all of this really partially gave birth from a local university, Moravian University. So they have an OT professor there who recognizes the utility of 3D printing in rehab and she actually created a class project for her OT students, where they are collaborating with 3D printing students to develop custom devices for our long-term care residents. And that’s really what helped lead to the conception of the Good Shepherd and Moravian University 3D Experience.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

That’s great.

Amanda Clark:

So we’re continuing to work with them to do research about the clinical application of 3D printing, develop education to create more therapy experts, and we’ll be utilizing some of their students to help run the 3D printing lab along with our 3D printing clinical specialist.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

That’s great. How do you see use of this 3D printer fitting into the larger goals for the Experience Center at the new Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital?

Amanda Clark:

So our new rehabilitation hospital will continue to serve as a destination center for inpatient rehabilitation for conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, brain injury, and many others. And it really is representing the heart of Good Shepherd as we are the rehabilitation experts to treat people, no matter their age, diagnosis, or complexity of their situation. And the Experience Center is just another way we’re advocating for our community. We’re providing them the knowledge, access, and empowerment to discover what innovative solutions are available to them so they can live their life undefined by their diagnosis or injury. And the Experience Center is another access point to learn about these technologies, such as 3D printing, and help our patients be able to navigate the additional services throughout our organization. Our other goal is to really help them give a voice and be able to advocate for themselves, to help be a part of solving the problems that the disability community faces. Whether that’s developing a new 3D-printed device that might be beneficial to many others, or being part of focus groups to help envision what technologies still need to be created to serve this population.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

Along those lines, do you foresee Good Shepherd’s custom 3D printing leading to innovations for other rehabilitation facilities in the future? And if so, how?

Amanda Clark:

Absolutely. So 3D printing currently in the healthcare field is predominantly more medical-focused. So they’re using 3D printing to create dental implants, surgical planning models, educational models for medical residencies, and is just starting to gain recognition and momentum for its applications within rehabilitation. There are some nonprofit organizations that provide 3D-printed assistive devices to people, but it’s not really being done on a large scale and not within a rehabilitation setting. So our hope is that by building this program from the ground up with Moravian University, it’s really going to lead to the realization and revolution of using 3D printing, because it can serve the needs of the disability community in a very cost-effective, accessible, and impactful way.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

That’s great. And where can people go to find out more about this?

Amanda Clark:

Sure. So on our website, at www.goodshepherdrehab.org, we have an additional webpage that is focused on the new hospital and the Experience Center, and there will be more information there. And we’re going to continue to publish more information, not only about the Experience Center, but about the 3D printing program as well, and how people can gain access to these tools and services that we will be offering.

Melanie Hamilton-Basich:

That’s great. Thank you so much. That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you again, Amanda, for sharing this information with us, and thank you to our listeners. Be on the lookout for more podcasts from Rehab Management and Physical Therapy Products wherever you listen to podcasts. For more great content from Rehab Management, visit us online at www.rehabpub.com. And while you’re there, subscribe to the publication and to our newsletter.