3D prosthetic arms

Over 3000 years ago to Ancient Egypt, people thought that our live have finite length, but the after live is eternal so according to the theology of Orisis, the body needed to be complete, because the soul would leave the body every night and come back to replenish its energy in the body and it was extremely important that body be fully complete. There are many instances of prosthetic noses, ears, toes and limbs which were used in Encient Egypt but they were not functional. Hence prosthetic developed from simply being aesthetic aids to actually becoming functional in everyday life. Globally there are 3 million people living without a upper limb. In last 20 years there are remarkable advancement in the development of the bionic limb.

The huge problem with the bionic limbs is the cost, not everybody can afford $20,000 to $100,000 for an prosthetic limb as you are aware that the wealth is unevenly distributed in the world. UCF is bulding an arm which can be used and manufactured much cheaper equivalent to 1% of the actual cost. The arm is completely 3D printed along with the joints between the fingers. There is a cable which runs through the length of each finger and back into the hand which is connected upto servo motor. The idea is to  trigger the motor by the arm of the person who's wearing it. Therefore the person would wear 3 electrodes on their upper arm. When the person who's wearing the arm squeezes their muscle there's little electrical pulse which triggers the motor to pull in 180 degrees. One pulse will close the hand and the other pulse will relax it so that it can open back up.




3D is new tchnology but it provides the low cost solution to print something out and redesign it and print out again. Today the bionic limb can be produced in just $300, thanks to Chuk Hull who invented the 3D prnting. The arm needs to replaced every 6 moths since kids grows, the parts of the arm can be produce on the spot with the advantage of selecting any design. Its amazing how Chuck Hull made things easy and cheaper that everybody can afford it.

By Ayesha Javaid.