They can fit in your shoe and don’t pollute…new biodegradable splints and orthotics made from wood and biopolymers courtesy of Espoo, Finland (a suburb of Helsinki) firm, Onbone are now available in the United States.
Finnish Firm Launches Remarkable Eco-Friendly Orthotics
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The firm, which has 9 active patents, 12 pending, was founded to bring to market a remarkable, eco-friendly material developed in a Helsinki University lab by two PhDs. The material, which is brand named Woodcast, is green, safe, moldable at 65 C/150 F and can be formed into a virtually unlimited number of shapes.
The material is also toxin free, non-allergenic, antimicrobial, fully biodegrable, moldable, re-moldable and is a medical grade certified material.
As Onbone’s CEO Jimmy Takki explained to OTW, the material has excellent handling characteristics and fits well into the typical work flow of a busy bracing and prosthetics department. “Only a hairdryer or heat gun is needed to shape the splint so that it fits perfectly, and optimally supports the injured area or the area that needs support for some other reason”, said Takki in a press release, “As splints made of Woodcast are light and compact, they can always be at hand for the medical team, no matter where in the world the team is competing or training. The material can also easily be removed or reshaped simply by warming it up again.”
The original idea for Woodcast, according to Takki, came when athletes called and requested custom fitted orthotics. “We started to develop personal protective equipment for various sports—shin pads for soccer, insoles for runners…. Many athletes call these their ‘secret weapon.’”
According to Mr. Takki, the almost chimeric ability of Woodcast to meet any orthotic requirement was a result of a lot of creative thinking followed by testing. “The most interesting development phase always happens in the the sauna/running (thinking) and immediately after you can test and try it with the material (testing). Testing does not need a lot of different equipment. Military forces are interested as soldiers are innovative and always have 10 new ideas and features. This means that the sauna needs to be hot all the time or running shoes on…this keeps the team fit.”
And if anyone needs to be fit, it is Olympians.
“We support everything that can prevent sports injuries and that can help in treating them rapidly if they occur”, says Ville Köngäs, marketing manager at the Finnish Olympic Committee. “Onbone has just the right expertise, products and technology for this purpose. Woodcast is important to us also, because we want to reduce the environmental impact of sport.”
“This co-operation ensures that the product development will cover a broad scale of needs in different disciplines”, Takki says. “Our splints and heaters will also be at the Finnish team’s disposal in the next Olympics in Tokyo and Beijing.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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