
Massachusetts man uses 3-D printer to make prosthetic hand for his son - cityzen
http://now.msn.com/paul-mccarthy-massachusetts-man-uses-3-d-printer-to-make-prosthetic-hand-for-his-son
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DanBC
This is great, even with all the caveats around it.

Some people can't currently afford real prosthetics, and they're stuck with
things like "Soda Bottle Prosthetics" which is a neat hack, but decidedly
suboptimal.

[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)

Compare that to the teen who asked a Formula One team to help with a false arm
(they didn't provide any money, but they helped with fundraising and
engineering and now he has an amazing arm)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg)

Medical use of 3d printing is exciting. Even if it's a bit odd. Here's an
advert which shows researchers looking at 3d printed proteins to understand
protein folding better. The proteins look cute. They could probably sell a
version of these as Mr Potato head style toys.

[http://www.3dsystems.com/learning-center/case-
studies/nation...](http://www.3dsystems.com/learning-center/case-
studies/nationwide-childrens-hospital-research-institute#.UnfJFnDGq0I)

That same company do a bunch of medical 3d printers
([http://www.3dsystems.com/3d-printers/professional/overview#h...](http://www.3dsystems.com/3d-printers/professional/overview#healthcare))
and they have an entry on Transmaterial about their printer than can use
powders as fine as 3 microns. It can build layers of 10 microns.
([http://transmaterial.net/phenix-px/](http://transmaterial.net/phenix-px/))

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egypturnash
The 'formula one team' link leads to the same video as the one under the 'soda
bottle hack'. Is it this kid?
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/87006...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8700621/F1-fan-
receives-bionic-hand-from-Mercedes-team.html)

~~~
DanBC
Whoops yes, sorry!

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secstate
Almost makes me want to cry to see the impact this can have on someones life.
And at such an absurdly low cost. It allows an agile development process for
advanced prosthetic limbs.

Of course, the inventors who came up with the design deserve a huge amount of
the credit for WHY this is possible. Bravo everyone, what a great story.

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yaddayadda
Since the article doesn't include the relevant link -
[http://www.thingiverse.com/robohand/designs](http://www.thingiverse.com/robohand/designs)

~~~
fudged71
I've been following this Robohand project for quite some time now. They are
based in South Africa, with a clinic there, and are trying to expand to the US
(Atlanta) and Australia.

It started with a successful crowdsourcing campaign, but they've fallen short
of their targets for two other campaigns to keep things growing.
[http://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/2984667/campaigns](http://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/2984667/campaigns)

Right now we're building software that would allow them to crank out parts
faster. I hope that it can help them out.

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fsniper
DIY prosthetics. This is awesome and cheaper. It's strange that some home made
products are cheaper than their industrialized counterparts.

~~~
TomSawyer
I'm guessing dad didn't pass this by the FDA and he's not protecting himself
from his son suing him if everything related to the device doesn't turn out
near perfect.

~~~
nsxwolf
Well, that's a major win, then.

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stevejalim
This is great, and in the same ballpark as a project friend is doing: he had a
disabled son who needed prosthetics to help maintain his posture, but the
things were expensive and took months to get sorted out. Enter 3D scanning and
printing to accelerate that. (Full background:
[http://projectandiamo.com/background/](http://projectandiamo.com/background/))

Naveed's only just getting started out right now, but I bet he won't mind me
saying that if you like what he's trying to do, and want to help, please do
drop him a line.

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jkldotio
The first 3D printer I saw in person was a couple of years ago in Vienna and
they were printing a new battery cover for an old gaming device. I was
seriously impressed with the technology then, but this really reveals the
potential. While obviously it's not on a level with specialized technologies,
at least just now, I think the cost factors will drive some interesting
applications. You can imagine what a few expensive high quality, but low
running cost, printers in a handful of core Indian and Chinese hospitals might
be able to do in medical areas where price is a large factor.

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magnapop
I would guess the 3-D printed version is a lot less durable. Also a lot of the
cost of prosthetics is the customisation to the individual, which I'm not sure
the printer software could handle.

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smrtinsert
Why not - plenty of people could learn an open source tool like blender and
produce another model can't they? As far as durability, I think that's fine
for everyday tasks and might even make it a positive, easy to replace,
customize for usage type etc.

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magnapop
Oh I agree! I was just thinking about the barrier to entry modifying CAD
files. One thing I didn't immediately think of is if you screw up a dimension,
you can just print out another to try again...I guess you could argue with the
ability to keep improving it over time, the 3D version could have a better
fit.

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kalesoup11
It's interesting when you consider extending this trend further into medical
device creation. Would you print an artificial bone? Artificial body parts?

At what point does the law have to step in and make it illegal to create
things that are not protected by the layers of research, testing, and
regulation.

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radiorental
It's been done. A replacement trachea was grown from scratch in a bio reactor
by bathing a man made structure in stem cells. Then transplanting.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-qRRZfz4cM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-qRRZfz4cM)

~~~
VladRussian2
"color" 3D printing, i.e. using different kind of cells that make up real
liver

[http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/24/3d-printed-
li...](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/24/3d-printed-liver)

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unimpressive
Related articles:

Making advanced prosthetic hands for under $1000 using 3D printing:

[http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130905-making-advanced-
prost...](http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130905-making-advanced-prosthetic-
hands-for-under-using-3d-printing.html)

The video mentioned in the article:

[http://hackaday.com/2013/02/08/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-
he...](http://hackaday.com/2013/02/08/3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-helps-out-
for-about-150/#more-94217)

I'm personally keeping an eye on this space, partly because robot hands are
cool and partly because they're a huge help to what has historically been
almost untreatable. (In the sense that treatment would never restore anything
approaching prior functionality.)

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reginaldjcooper
This is as cool or cooler as the tablet apps that replace thousand-dollar
devices and allow even poor and uninsured autistic children to communicate.
Congrats to the dad for being awesome.

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JoseVigil
The world could be changing after all, I applaud the initiative. All positive.
Thanks for sharing.

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spoiledtechie
I saw my first 3D printer this weekend in the MSoft store. Thought it was
really cool and was going for a cool $2100.00.

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vasilipupkin
this is awesome

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lowkeykiwi
I wonder how 3d printing could help in the 3rd world.

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vrkr
I got 2 friends that just started a design studio and they are creating
beautiful and affordable prosthetic legs
[http://www.alleles.ca/](http://www.alleles.ca/)

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EvanAnderson
They aren't making prosthetic legs. They're making cosmetic covers for
prosthetic legs. There's a big difference there, in terms of durability of
materials and engineering behind the design.

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vrkr
Yes, you are right but I think the idea is awesome!

