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"Breaking a bone is unpleasant all around \u2014 and having to wear a smelly, clunky plaster cast is like getting kicked when you're down. At least, that's how Jake Evill felt after breaking his hand. He told Wired that his plaster cast felt \"archaic.\"\nEvill, a recent graduate of Victoria University in New Zealand, wants to update the process of healing of broken limbs with something a little more modern: 3D printing. \nSEE ALSO: 3D-Printed Human Organs Prep Doctors for Real Surgeries\n \nEvill created the Cortex cast, a breathable, lightweight, recyclable and washable exoskeleton that mimics the body's trabecular, the small honeycomb-like structure that makes up your inner bone structure. \nThe cast lets in plenty of air, which prevents that stuffy, itchy feeling.\nThe Cortex cast employs a similar fitting system as other casts, with X-rays to determine bone fractures. Evill's prototype used a hacked Kinect for Xbox for the 3D scanning, but a more sophisticated and precise scanning process is in the works.\nCheck out the video above to see how the Cortex cast fits to broken bones. \n\nImages courtesy of Jake Evill\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/07/04/3d-printed-cast/>