Imprints, the footwear-of-the-future insoles the company produces, are currently part of an NHS pilot and take the form of a lattice-like structure of different densities. These match an individual’s foot shape and loading profile with maximised, soft rubber cushioning that reduces high foot pressure, a major factor contributing to ulcers. Unlike standard foam insoles, Imprints have the advantage of neither hardening nor compressing over time.

The scaleable technology involved in Cadscan’s scanning and advanced digital manufacturing techniques then enable production on demand by its own specialist printing machines at its Chester factory. 

The insoles are poised to tackle a massive problem as treating foot ulcers costs the NHS over £1billion every year in addition to the personal costs to patients struggling with pain and immobility. 

Up to 25 percent of those living with diabetes, around one million people, are expected to get an ulcer at some point and they result in an annual toll of 9,152 amputations . 

“Around 65 percent of ulcers recur too,” says Cadscan’s founder and managing director Dr Alastair Buchanan. 

“However the perfect insole for every person is now possible with our 3-D mapping technology. There are no long waits and the cost is a fraction of conventional products. 

“People don’t have to be diabetics to benefit either as 25 percent of over-45s have sore feet which our products address. Overall it’s a huge market.”

Set up in 2011 with low-cost, 3D scanning ambitions, today the company, which employs 12, focuses on high value innovations for the medical sector working closely with doctors and academics.

Turnover, expected to be £436,000 this year, is forecast to rise to £4 million by 2023 with the retail version of Imprints. 

For this Buchanan plans to set up self-scanning kiosks within pharmacies and physiotherapy clinics with the insoles costing £40-£50 a pair.

The company received a boost in 2013 when key patents in printing expired driving down costs and fostering innovation. Backing from government agency Innovate UK and SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) Healthcare followed.

This took the insoles from concept to product and Cadscan’s move to its own 5,000 sq ft factory. 

Other projects in development include Attain, an app being trialled by eight state schools in Northern Ireland that encourages primary age children with autism to actively engage more with each other through team-work games.

Another, Virtue, also in an NHS hospital trial, uses virtual reality to help the rehabilitation of stroke patients with memory difficulties relearn everyday tasks such as making a cup of tea. 

www.cad-scan.co.uk