REHAB LAB (disability & 3D printing)

A Rehab‐lab is a fab‐lab integrated in a healthcare organisation where
people with disability can design their own assistive devices using 3D
printing.
The initiative was launched at the rehabilitation centre of Kerpape in
2016.

Stakeholders involved in the case :
Centre Mutualiste de Rééducation et de Réadaptation Fonctionnelles
de Kerpape & its Rehab Lab 4 all network

-31 Rehab Lab have were created in France
‐ More than 1063 assistive devices have been codesigned by
patients together with healthcare professionals.
-704 patients were followed
‐ A common charter has been adopted by the French REHABLABs.
This charter provides a formal operating framework to
share values and processes related to citizen/patient
involvement.
3D printing is a promising solution for the design of assistive devices in
the context of health and care systems. Compared to non‐digital
fabrication processes, it has a lot of benefits: accessibility (to let
citizens/patients design their own assistive devices simply by having
access to a computer), adaptation (ease of design by changing
parameters on an existing object), cloning (ease of reproduction by
reprinting the object), design (possibility to choose colour and shape),
weight (control by the 3D printer infill parameter), cost and time
(considering both materials and the 3D printer), materials (large
number of innovative and environment‐friendly materials,
biodegradable/bio‐sourced).