CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Knee and ankle braces can cost thousands of dollars, but a local company is hoping to ease the pain and cost of those for people who participate in a new study.

“In our core product, basically when you bend down, it assists you back up,” said Dave Johnson, the founder of Icarus. 

The company created an app that does a 3-D scan of a person's knee, ankle, or another area of pain and creates a custom brace for that person using 3-D printing technology.

The Icarus team, along with some University of Virginia engineering students, all play a different role in creating the custom brace.

“My favorite part about working for Icarus is creating devices that actually go on patients and help their day-to-day lives,” said Ben Sharay, a UVA graduate and the head of engineering at Icarus. 

Now, Icarus is looking for volunteers with ankle pain to participate in a new study, which results in a free brace.

“We're looking for 20 patients, to get a state-of-the-art ankle brace. We'll build them a brace, we'll ask them to give us feedback on that brace, at baseline info, then four weeks, 12 weeks, and six months,” said Johnson.

The study is also interested in people who have just had knee surgery.

“This is for a post-operative knee brace and we’re seeing if we can accelerate people’s return to play, or sports, or return to whatever they like to do, more quickly with this brace,” added Johnson. 

Icarus aims to help people stay active, live longer, and live a healthier life.

With this study, the company hopes to expose the community to these goals and help relieve the pain of those suffering from different knee and ankle injuries.

For more information about Icarus and participating in the study, people can visit its Charlottesville location or click here.