Análise automática de nuvens de pontos 3D de cabeças com Plagiocefalia Posicional

A Plagiocefalia Posicional é uma condição com uma prevalência significativa em crianças recém-nascidas. Esta condição define-se como uma distorção assimétrica do formato do crânio do bebé originária de complicações pré-natais ou de um incorreto posicionamento de descanso pós-parto. Ortóteses cranianas são o método de tratamento mais utilizado pela sua eficácia, no entanto, estas ainda apresentam algumas limitações que, com recursos e técnicas mais atuais, poderão ser colmatadas. Esta dissertação tem como propósito contribuir para a, automatização do processo de design das ortóteses que é atualmente feito de forma manual e, por isso, sujeito a falhas humanas. A modelação da ortótese craniana será conseguida através da análise das medidas antropométricas e por comparação destas com múltiplos modelos de cabeças consideradas normais. Nesta dissertação foram desenvolvidas duas aplicações: uma capaz de determinar a partir de um modelo tridimensional (nuvem de pontos) do crânio deformado as medidas antropométricas requeridas para a modelação da ortótese e outra, que permite comparar duas nuvens de pontos, de modo a ser possível encontrar para uma cabeça com Plagiocefalia Posicional a cabeça normal mais próxima.Positional Plagiocephaly is a condition with a significant prevalence in newborn infants. This condition is defined as an asymmetric distortion of the patient skull shape originating from prenatal complications or incorrect post-partum rest positioning. Cranial orthoses are the treatment method most used for their effectiveness, however, it still presents some limitations that, with state-of-the-art resources and techniques, can be overcome. This dissertation aims to contribute to the automation of the design process of orthoses that is currently done manually and, therefore, subject to human failures. The model ling of cranial orthosis will be achieved by analysing the anthropometric measurements and comparing them with multiple head models considered normal. In this dissertation, two applications were developed: one capable of determining the anthropometric measurements required from the three-dimensional model (cloud of points) of the deformed skull for the modeling of the orthosis and another, which allows comparing two nodes of points, to be possible find for a head with Positional Plagiocephaly the nearest normal head

Measurement Devices for Custom Shoe Manufacturing

The majority of North Americans suffer from foot problems at some point in their lives. These foot problems can be divided into three domains ranging from mismatch on healthy feet, to small injuries and deformities and extreme sensitivity and deformities. A solution to these problems is the development of corrective shoes. The design of corrective shoes involves three steps: first, the measurement or digitization of the foot to create a model; second, the manipulation of the model and last creation; third, constructing the shoe with the last. This work focuses on developing a foot digitization system or scanner for each of the three problem domains. A good digitization paves the way for development of foot manipulation algorithms and last manufacturing techniques that can be applied to develop well fitting comfortable shoes. Three scanning methods were investigated in this work. The first was designed for scanning near normal feet and automatically building a 3D approximation of the plantar surface of the foot. This digitizer was successfully built and demonstrated. The second scanner was designed to scan the entire 3D surface of the foot. This scanner was built and used to extract data for building complete 3D models of the foot. The last scanner was designed to measure and modify the pressure distribution of the loaded foot on a controllable surface. This scanner is more capable in creating an optimal corrective shoe, but is more expensive. A pin matrix design was selected and subsystem prototypes were successfully produced and tested. The first two developed designs provide low cost solutions for modeling feet, for the purposes of corrective shoe and insole creation. The third design explores a method of measuring foot pressure and distributing it via control of a 3D surface upon which the foot is supported