Orthopaedic bracing shouldn’t feel like a battle between patience and pain. Waiting weeks for a brace that doesn’t fit, or makes things worse, however, is still the norm for too many patients.
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Mass-produced, one-size-fits-all devices, guesswork fittings, and clunky supply chains often leave patients stuck in discomfort while clinicians juggle delays and documentation. A digital orthopaedics pioneer, mign, is here to change that — putting patients at the heart of orthopaedic care, where they belong. mign is redefining the patient experience through mass personalization, harnessing the power of advanced digital design with Carbon’s 3D printing technology to create made-to-measure spine and sports medicine braces that fit perfectly, perform better, support accessibility, and dramatically improve recovery.
Your size is not a letter
While digital technologies have transformed industries worldwide, processes across the healthcare sector have been comparatively delayed in their evolution. Splints, braces, and other devices are still largely mass-produced, ‘cookie cutter’ solutions that fail to accommodate individual body shapes, conditions, or lifestyles. For patients with complex needs, the alternative is a slow, inefficient process – months of back-and-forth between doctors, orthotists, and suppliers, multiple fittings, and reliance on outdated manufacturing methods lacking speed and precision.
In the meantime, patients endure pain, restricted mobility, and worsening symptoms while waiting for care. Many face long delays for tailored solutions, while others settle for ill-fitting, off-the-shelf devices that can exacerbate muscle weakness and impede recovery, increasing the risk of further injury. Even custom-made options often fall short, and typically amount to uncomfortable, poorly fitted devices that are simply not optimized for real-world use. For clinicians, navigating this fragmented system is often frustrating, requiring significant time and effort with no guarantee of an effective outcome. This outdated cycle often leaves patients underserved and practitioners struggling to deliver the best possible care.
Thankfully, 3D printing is driving a long-overdue transformation. More than just a new manufacturing tool, this precision and efficiency-driving technology is reshaping the entire industry and reframing patient care. As mign demonstrates, the technology is now introducing a digital future, moving from legacy to local and delivering perfectly tailored solutions, 3D printed on-site, that precisely match your unique phenotype and medical requirements. This isn’t just about better technology, it’s about better care, unlocking entirely new business opportunities, revolutionizing supply chains, and redefining what’s possible in musculoskeletal recovery.
Uniquely you, designed by mign
Recognizing the industry challenges, mign saw an opportunity to pioneer change, using the Carbon platform to transform its patient support process. The technology now sits at the heart of mign’s digital factory, not just as a tool, but as the foundation of the company’s business model.
“mign was born out of a widespread issue we saw across the industry,” explains Lisa Tweardy, Co-Founder and CEO, mign. “Rather than accepting the status quo, we turned a challenge into an opportunity – creating something that we’re now extremely proud of, representing a force for change in an industry that has traditionally been often held back by red tape and siloed treatment paths. Thanks to 3D printing, we can rapidly build virtually any orthopaedic support, for any part of the body, and any patient.”
mign is transforming the orthopaedic experience via mass personalization, with a production process that prioritizes precision and efficiency. Instead of relying on outdated, one-size-fits-all solutions, patients can undergo a state-of-the-art body scan, capturing highly accurate anatomical data for precise diagnostics. mign’s software seamlessly integrates X-ray data, clinical requirements, and individual biomechanics, generating a customized, breathable, comfortable, and effective design tailored to each patient’s unique needs – and often at lower cost than traditional alternatives.
“We’re effectively doing for orthopaedics what 3D printed aligners do for the dental industry: taking a patient’s body scan and adapting it, to give them the support they need, where they need it,” Tweardy illustrates.
By streamlining care pathways and accelerating turnaround times, mign replaces weeks of lengthy fittings and frustration with a seamless, digital-first experience. What once required multiple appointments and manual adjustments – often resulting in devices that were neither entirely comfortable nor effective – has been replaced with a streamlined digital workflow. Now, devices can be 3D printed in minutes, at a fraction of the cost. This innovation not only enhances patient experience but also presents a huge opportunity to improve accessibility, making high-quality, personalized orthopaedic care more widely available than ever before.
“We’ve seen patients who’ve spent weeks or even months enduring fittings and treatments, trying multiple splints and costly solutions that simply aren’t right for them. Often, physicians refer them to mign, where they walk away with a perfectly fitting, custom-made product that is covered by insurance,” she continues. “We hear and sympathise with the frustrations that clinicians face every day in trying to provide the best care, so it’s incredibly gratifying to help alleviate these and offer their patients a solution that truly works.”
A partnership beyond technology
According to Tweardy, mign’s success in transforming patient care hasn’t just been about cutting-edge technology, but about the people and partnership behind it. Far from simply installing a 3D printer and being left to figure it out alone, mign has benefited from a deeply collaborative relationship with Carbon – one that extends far beyond the hardware.
“What sets our work with Carbon apart is that we’re not just investing in their technology; we are investing in their team, their expertise, and their way of thinking,” says Tweardy. “From day one, it’s been a true partnership, with constant two-way dialogue that has helped push our designs to new levels. Carbon’s technical support has been instrumental in refining mign’s approach and supporting the product design process – from optimizing materials and mechanical properties to fine-tuning part configurations for peak performance and producibility.”
According to Tweardy, integrating Carbon’s signature lattice structures has allowed mign to enhance comfort, flexibility, and strength within a single component – something traditional manufacturing cannot achieve. This level of collaborative innovation has ensured that every aspect of mign’s design, from material selection to structural integrity, is guided not just by patient insights but by cutting-edge technology and expert insights from both sides.
“Another important aspect that intrigued us about Carbon was the level of control and flexibility their platform offers,” Tweardy continues. “From the speed and adaptability of the technology to the depth of its material library, it gives us unparalleled freedom in design.” This next-level precision allows mign to fine-tune rigidity and softness within a single piece, ensuring that each device is engineered not just for fit, but for optimal performance and healing – a difference that translates into significantly better patient outcomes.”
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The future is personal: the next steps in redefining orthopaedic care
With Carbon’s cutting-edge 3D printing technology, mign creates highly personalized orthoses for a diverse range of patients daily – from young children to senior citizens, athletes, military personnel, and everyone in between. This innovation drives a shift towards wide-scale personalization in orthopaedic care, which is quickly becoming the new standard. By enabling same-day scanning, design, and printing, mign is reducing treatment costs and expanding access to care, sustainably eliminating the delays and high costs associated with traditional supply chains and inventory.
Looking ahead to the future of orthopaedic care, mign is also laying the groundwork for a path away from the sterile, generic, and impersonal experience patients often encounter in clinical settings, reimagining orthopaedics as an empowering, expressive, and individualised journey. Patients welcomed into a world of bold superhero aesthetics, custom designs, and a celebration of individuality, with the most cutting-edge 3D printing technologies at the core of their production hub. By challenging industry norms, mign is proving that medical solutions don’t have to be generic; they can be as dynamic and personal as the patients themselves, often with far better care outcomes.
As the team proudly claims,
“medical doesn’t have to be boring, it can be fun and really dope and fresh too!”
