An innovative, Australian-designed, light-weight splint to immobilise broken limbs will soon be available nationwide.

An ‘Accelerating Commercialisation’ grant from the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has been awarded to ramp up production of the splint in South Australia.

State Manufacturing and Innovation Minister Kyam Maher says the ‘CAS Splint’, made by local company Fluoro Medical Pty Ltd, will be manufactured in large quantities, creating up to 25 jobs during the next three to five years.

“The State Government funding – through the Medical Technologies Program – will provide 250 hours of research and development assistance from [Flinders University], together with 30 hours of market intelligence which can be utilised by Fluoro Medical to craft a business case and commercialisation strategy at a later stage,” Mr Maher said.

Fluoro Medical managing director Scott Blackburn says the CAS Splint was developed to create a low-cost alternative to stabilise and support injured limbs. It is waterproof and compact enough to fit into regular first-aid kits.

Research from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare show about 65 per cent of falls result in the fracture of limbs, and currently the most common way to secure a limb is by using sling bandages with cardboard splints not found in most first-aid kits.

Because of the nature of the materials used in that process, the resulting support can easily succumb to moisture damage and, if applied incorrectly, even exacerbate the injury.

Professor Karen Reynolds, director of the State Government-funded Medical Device Partnership Program (MDPP), says medical device experts will run trials of the splint, which will help Fluoro Medical through the final development phase.

“The MDPP will undertake an end-user trial and survey to validate the current design of the splint and make recommendations for design modifications as required,” says Professor Reynolds.