Imperial External Fixator Manufacturing Kit

Manufacturing kit

The device is designed in a way that can be manufactured locally in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) using conventional manufacturing techniques, i.e. turning and milling. However, making a standard medical device using these techniques needs highly skilled operators which may increase the labor cost and lack of it results in producing low-quality parts. Therefore, a jig-based manufacturing kit (image below) has been developed at Imperial College London.

List of the items in the kit are as follows:

  • Large clamp primary jig and pins
  • Large clamp secondary jig and pin
  • Small clamp jig and pins
  • 3/16 Dia centre drill
  • 5/16 Dia centre drill
  • 4.8mm drill bit
  • 8.5mm drill bit
  • 12.5mm drill bit
  • 4.5mm slot drill
  • 13mm 3-flute carbide slot drill
  • 5mm reamer
  • 12.8 reamer
  • Parting blade HSS-Co8 2x13x110mm
  • 100mm Dia x 2mm width course pitch slitting saw
  • Slitting saw arbor
  • Combi flap wheel P120 grit
  • P40 grit sandpaper

In addition to the tools listed above,  basic lathe tools for turning and chamfering Aluminum are also required.

Raw Materials

Aluminium 6xxx, such as 6061-T6 or 6082-T6 round bars with 1.5 and 1 inch diameters for large and small clamps, respectively, are required. For the rod, Stainless steel 304 tube with wall thickness 3/64 inch (1.19mm) is recommended.