Former Duke football players use 3D printing to transform sports medicine

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Three former Duke University football players are revolutionizing sports medicine through 3D printing technology.

Kevin Gehsmann, Clark Bulleit, and Tim Skapek, founders of Protect3D, have developed custom braces designed to help athletes recover from injuries and return to the game faster.

Since launching in 2019, their 3D-printed braces have become a standard medical solution in professional sports.

Here’s how it works:

Medical staff can use a smartphone to take a 3D scan, which the Durham-based team uses to create a digital design. The brace is printed and shipped, often within 48 hours.

This enables athletes, including, for example, those across the country, such as the San Francisco 49ers, to receive custom braces in time for midweek practices.

“The best part about making custom products for people is the tangible impact it has on people from that lower extremity, ankle, foot, orthosis device that helps people walk better than they have in years,” Gehsmann, the company’s CEO, said.

The idea began as a passion project when Gehsmann, a mechanical engineering graduate, and his co-founders used the technology to aid their former teammate Daniel Jones, now a quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.

“As we’ve scaled the company, we’ve continued to push the envelope and push the bounds of what’s possible with 3D printing technologies and the different types of products we can create,” Gehsmann said.

Their innovative products are now widely adopted across major sports leagues and colleges.

“We saw the impact these products and this technology can have on people,” he said. “Being at a place like Duke, a lot of opportunities presented themselves. And as former athletes, we saw doors opened from us and didn’t walk through them, but sprinted through them.”

Gehsmann noted that they want to continue expanding their reach and help more people, including those in the military community.