Southern Colorado company creating mold for new casting product

PUEBLO, Colo. — Casting off the old ways of healing — that’s the goal of a new kind of cast.

ActivArmor is a new company that makes a breathable, waterproof, and a more hygienic cast.

Diana Hall is the founder of the new product and she says that she took time off from her chemical engineering job to run a mentor program for children in poverty.

She noticed many of them were struggling with broken bones and had problems with the traditional casts.

“They’d often come in with these filthy casts, they couldn’t even wash their hands to have a snack. They would have skin irritation, they’d get dirt, sticks, anything was tuck down there. They’d be scratching down there with coat hangers. I thought ‘this is so archaic!’ We’ve been doing the same thing, splinting and casting for so many years. I knew the technology was there to provide a better alternative,” she said.

After more than two years of field tests here on the Front Range, more patients are learning about this new kind of technology.

If you or someone you know has ever broken anything, you probably remember the itchy smelly traditional casts.

This is a whole new idea.

“Every single one is different. There is no one size fits all in medicine, and I think we really need to get away from that. Really customization in medicine is important, because nobody is a small medium or large,” said Hall.

Stacy Trujillo has a work injury from 10 years ago. She used to use traditional splints but now she uses ActivArmor.

“I’ve had rashes with all the other ones, I’ve had to wash the other ones,” said Trujillo.

Hall said it’s ideal for “people who really want to maintain their busy and active lifestyles and still immobilizing or protect their injury.”

THIS IS HOW IT WORKS:

A nurse certified in 3D body imaging will sit the patient down and shape the arm, hand or wrist in the healing outcome desired by the doctor.

The scanner uses white light and it reflects off the surface of the patients skin.

“It’s complete eye safe, it only takes about 30 seconds and it’s accurate to the half-millimeter,” said Hall.

Forty-eight hours later you have your breathable, waterproof and custom-fit cast.

“This really becomes a part of you, which is why you get it modeled you don’t even remember that you have it on you keep it on 24/7 or you can take it off,” said Trujillo.

They say the waterproof and lightweight properties allow patients to be more compliant, instead of patients taking their cast or splint off, when it gets in the way of day-to-day tasks.

Additionally, because it’s made up of a hard type of plastic it is non-toxic and can even be recycled.

All of the casts are made at a manufacturing facility in Cañon City.

Hall said it can be paid for by insurance and the removable aspect is revolutionary for doctors too.

“It really saved doctors a lot of money for that because, they need an exam or x-ray or they have a wet cast they need to be re-casted. It takes clinic time it saves the doctors money it they get one of these they can just pop it on and off,” said Hall.

This cast is available at the following locations:

• St. Mary Corwin, Centura Center For Rehab – Pueblo
• Parkview Medical Center – Pueblo
• Quantum health solutions – Denver
• Complete PT – Los Angeles
• Health Fit – Castle Rock

As of September 1 the product was rolling out nationwide. The company is looking for clinics to carry their product.

Hall is hoping the expansion of the company will bring nearly 40 jobs to the area in 2017 and 100 more in the following year.

(sourced from fox21news.com)