

An open source prosthetic hand costing $1000 - jhrf
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130905-making-advanced-prosthetic-hands-for-under-using-3d-printing.html

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kiba
If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis.

It's more about the ability of prosthetic users being able to own the parts
that has been implanted into their body than being able to modify it per se.

This way, prosthetic users cannot be barred from law or practicality to seek
competent prosthetic specialists and professional that's not from the same
company that makes the prosthesis. For example, if I have an retinal
prosthesis from a company that went bankrupt ten years ago, I can still seek
services from some other company, with a technical manual and blueprint in
hand.

~~~
shakes
> If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's
> prosthesis.

My mom had her leg amputated 8 years ago, and seeing her go through the
process of getting a prosthesis I couldn't agree more. Due to wear and tear,
she has to get a new prosthesis approximately every 2 years. We're in the US,
and with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. I'm unbelievably excited to see
new and innovative approaches to tackle this problem.

~~~
acchow
> with insurance it ends up costing $10,000.

You pay $10,000 out of pocket? How much is the total cost, and how much is
covered by insurance?

Also, wow.

~~~
DavidWanjiru
If this article is anything to go by, you shouldn't be surprised:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-
salines-s...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-
secret-costs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

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DanBC
And for the people living on $2 per day there is the "soda bottle prosthetic".

([http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-
pros...](http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/))

([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg))

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ejt
This reminds me of an ultra low cost prosthetic arm that some friends of mine
have been working on for a few years.[0] They originally set out to invent
something very similar to this hand, but ended up designing and manufacturing
low cost prosthetic arms for people in emerging and developing nations
instead.

It would be fascinating if someone ended up making a fully open source
prosthetic arm that could be totally customized to the user's specifications
and then fabricated locally for minimal cost.

\- [0] [http://madebybump.org/](http://madebybump.org/)

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jhrf
If anyone is interested in helping this project along there is an indiegogo
page (below). I have no vested interest in this project, I simply think it's a
great use of new tech with an altruistic bent.

[http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-
lo...](http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-low-cost-
robotic-hand)

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jobstijl
This looks good. I don't have my left hand from birth and did try a prosthetic
hand in the nineties. Then i found them to heavy and 'stupid' to use. This is
something I definitely would like to try.

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michaelbuckbee
What I really love about this is (aside from the obvious awesomeness of more
people getting the prosthetics that they need) is that it is a perfect usage
fit for the level of output from consumer 3D printing devices like the
Makerbot.

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gabriel34
Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't it be a nice, if not the best, way to lower
the prices of prosthetics to make them usable by non-handicapped people? for
instance, Doctor Octopus arms could fit everyone. That fiction is a bit far-
fetched, but something similar and not so monstery-looking could improve
everyone's lives. In fact, it could lessen the disability and, ideally, render
it non-existent by making everyone equally able.

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wcbeard10
Seems like something the FDA would protect Americans from, no?

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agumonkey
Thinking not long ago this was in the news
[http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-
ho...](http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-homemade-
bionic-limbs/)

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mcmire
This (and actually bodily augmentation in general) seems like something that
3D printing is perfectly suited for. I see this sort of thing blowing up in
the next 10 years.

