How does a $50 3D-printed hand match up to $42G prosthetic?

[Suzanimal]

These printers are so cool.

Jose Delgado, Jr., 53, was born without most of his left hand and has been using prosthetic devices for decades. His current device, a myoelectric prosthesis, is valued at around $42,000.

Due to the high cost of prosthetics, groups like e-NABLE, comprised of a global community of volunteers, have been formed with the goal of providing free 3D-printed devices and parts for people in need.

Jeremy Simon, an e-NABLE volunteer and founder of 3D Universe, had an idea: make a 3D-printed mechanical hand using $50 worth of materials and see how it compares to the $42,000 prosthetic. The results were shocking.

"Certainly we're not making an apples to apples comparison -- these are entirely different kinds of devices -- but the comparison I was trying to draw with Jose was strictly in terms of day-to-day functionality what's more useful," Simon told FoxNews.com. "It turned out [the 3D-printed] one was."

Delgado Jr., who tested the device, told Simon the grip of the 3D-printed hand made it more functional in many cases than the more expensive prosthetic.

"It's useful for carrying boxes," Delgado Jr. said. "These are more grip and won't let go of much."

Simon found the design for the 3D-printed via e-NABLE.

"We're talking about 3D designers, university professors, occupational therapists, medical professionals, all sorts of people are in this community and they all give completely freely of their time and efforts," Simon said.

Simon hopes the 3D printing movement will continue to grow, and hopes philanthropic efforts like those of e-NABLE will thrive.

"As long as there's still people willing to do this kind of work, the technology is going to continue to get more accessible and more affordable," Simon said.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/0...2g-prosthetic/

[donnay]

I think this technology is awesome.

[tod evans]

Cool!

[fisharmor]

$42,000 should buy you the printer, enough materials to make a half dozen different prosthesis...

....and all the 3D printed guns it's going to take to keep you out of prison for practicing medicine without a license.

[kcchiefs6465]

..

[Suzanimal]

Wow, pretty soon we'll be able to just 3D print a whole new body and live forever.

3D Printed Device Detoxifies Blood Like a Liver

Okay, it doesn’t look like a liver, but this new 3D printed device can detoxify the blood like one. While it’s just a proof-of-concept, nanoengineers hope the liver-inspired device can be used like a dialysis one day.

Animal bites, stings, and bacterial infections can leave behind toxins in the blood that form pores and damage cellular membranes. Previous work has shown how nanoparticles can neutralize these pore-forming toxins -- but they end up accumulating in the liver. That could to lead secondary poisoning, which pretty much defeats the whole point.

This new device uses nanoparticles to trap those toxins, preventing any illnesses that may result. But to make these nanoparticles more digestible, the team led by Maling Gou and Shaochen Chen of the University of California, San Diego, created a 3D-printed hydrogel matrix to house them. The result is a device that mimics the liver’s function by first sensing, then attracting and capturing toxins routed from the blood. Like a dialysis, it's designed to be used outside the body. It’s large surface area is specifically designed to trap toxins within itself, turning red as it captures them.

The biofabrication technology used is called dynamic optical projection stereolithography, and it uses a projection system and tiny mirrors to shine a light on photosensitive biopolymers and cells in a solution. This forms one solid layer at a time, continuously. Its resolution is at the nanoscale -- useful for producing blood vessels and other tiny, detailed structures.


Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/health-and...6LtRjEB2ToJ.99

[Origanalist]

$42,000 should buy you the printer, enough materials to make a half dozen different prosthesis...

....and all the 3D printed guns it's going to take to keep you out of prison for practicing medicine without a license.

You beat me to it. You can't help anybody unless and until government says you can.

[pcosmar]

This goes here.

[willwash]

Cue the intellectual property nazis saying you can't do that.

[Suzanimal]

Amazing...

Volunteers use 3D printers to create inexpensive prosthetics

An online organization of more than 1,500 volunteers is using 3D printers to produce prosthetic hands or fingers for people around the world who need them.

This Sunday, the group, called e-NABLE, will come together at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to further their goals of designing, printing and distributing their inexpensive plastic prostheses, in advance of an upcoming U.S. Food and Drug Administration public forum on 3D printing of medical devices.

e-NABLE founder Jon Schull, a research scientist at New York's Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for MAGIC (Media, Arts, Games, Innovation and Creativity), said the group’s prostheses are made of tough plastics and cost little to make or repair.

"Traditional prosthetics can cost more than $40,000, and our hands have been favorably compared to them," Schull told Reuters Health. "We live in a world where the standard offerings are extraordinarily expensive. In contrast, we are harnessing the power of thousands of volunteers and giving them away."

e-NABLE's printed hands cost less than $50 to produce for volunteers with access to 3D printers, but they are not as elaborate as traditional prostheses. They are based on open-source, non-proprietary designs, some of which were first developed in 2012. (Hand, finger and arm design files are available from the group here: bit.ly/1CcwpWd.)

The collaborative approach to design has the potential to improve millions of lives around the world, said Dr. Albert Chi, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins, in a statement to Reuters Health. "Now is the time to bring these technologies and practices into mainstream medicine."

Quinn Cassidy, the mother of a five-year-old who received an e-NABLE prosthetic hand, is an enthusiastic supporter of the organization.

"My son Griffin loves his - we still need to tighten the strings on the fingers and tweak it. When he put it on, he was immediately able to pick up a ball and throw it with his left hand, something he was never able to do before," she told Reuters Health. Chi helped outfit Griffin with a prosthetic hand.

Cassidy said the prosthesis has also helped Griffin become more confident, and he enjoys showing it off to curious children.

"He's wearing it a lot. He's really taken ownership of it," she said. "It's glow-in-the-dark, so he's pulling people in bathrooms and showing them. I can see him walking a little prouder when he has it on."

Cassidy recommends e-NABLE prosthetics to other parents with children facing limb difference, partly because they are so much more attainable than traditional prostheses and easy to use.

"We did not find a traditional body-powered prosthetic that Griffin liked at all. He would not wear it and it was incredibly expensive: even with good insurance, just the co-pay was $1,000," she added. "We have pledged $50 to provide another child a 3D-printed hand."

A growing Google+ network helps connect patients to local individuals or institutions with access to 3D printers. In particular, the group is interested in building alliances with aid workers in war-torn regions, disaster zones, and impoverished communities where inexpensive and easily attainable prosthetics are needed.

Schull said he is surprised by the growing support from traditional prosthetic manufacturers. Two leading traditional prosthetic companies, Hanger and Dankmeyer, Inc., are helping sponsor the conference, billed as Prosthetists Meet 3D Printers.

On October 8 and 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public workshop “to discuss technical challenges and solutions of 3D printing” of medical devices.

"I have to believe that they are all keeping an eye on what we're doing," Schull added. "The pictures of smiling children are so compelling. I don't know if there will be pushback from the FDA.”

Robert Graboyes, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University in Virginia, another sponsor of Sunday’s conference, said he believes the FDA should approve new innovations at a faster pace.

“Will these new innovations be allowed? That’s the big question,” he told Reuters Health. “If nothing else, we have an antiquated system of approvals.”

If e-NABLE were to begin selling their hands or make them more complex, they would need to get FDA approvals.

“Outsiders, those outside of the medical industry, are innovating faster than insiders are,” Graboyes said. “3D printing is just one example.”

At Sunday’s conference, prosthetists and parents will learn how to print and assemble 3D printed prosthetic hands themselves.

“At the end of the day, children with upper limb differences will get to try on newly-donated 3D printed hand devices for the first time and provide feedback and guidance to the attendees,” according to a statement from e-NABLE.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/0...e-prosthetics/

[Suzanimal]

3-D Printing Is Changing the Future of Prosthetics

Thanks to 3-D printing, a lifetime of prosthetics will cost less than one commercially made device.

Soon enough, anyone with a 3-D printer will be able to build custom prosthetics. No longer will these devices—traditionally created by a doctor—cost thousands of dollars, removing the financial burden families face when members (especially children) may need multiple each year.

Two companies, e-NABLE and Not Impossible Lab’s Project Daniel, are changing the accessibility of prosthetics for growing children. Both e-NABLE and Not Impossible Labs use open source for designs, meaning anyone with access to a 3D printer and materials can customize and print the design plans. By creating technology for social good, the organizations are opening doors to people who would not be able to obtain prosthetics otherwise.

E-NABLE began in May 2013 with one prosthetic hand design and 70 volunteers. Now, with the help of over 3,000 medical professionals, teachers, engineers, and students, e-NABLE creates colorful and lightweight 3-D printed prosthetic hands for no cost to those in need. With designs named “The Raptor Hand,” “The Cyborg Beast” and “The Odysseus Hand,” kids feel like superheroes and are proud of their prosthetics. Each hand costs just 50 dollars in materials.

“Our volunteers donate their time, materials, and use of their 3-D printers to create them,” Jen Owen, a member of e-NABLE, said. “If a parent wanted to purchase a 3-D printer of their own and produce hands for their own child, the cost of the printer and the materials to make the hands for their child for the next 10 years would be less than the cost of the creation of one commercially made prosthetic device.”

Though 3-D printed prosthetics are not as strong as commercially created prosthetics and can break after periods of use, they are much easier to fix and replace—a replacement part can be reprinted and assembled in just hours. And while some commercially created prosthetics cannot be immersed in water because of electronic materials, 3D printed prosthetics use a durable plastic that allows hands and arms to be worn in the shower, building the user’s independence.

“A lot of people want to maintain their privacy and dignity, so they would like a solution they can use in different settings, Elliot Kotek, Not Impossible’s chief of content, said. “That’s also where these 3-D printed and DIY prosthetics can come into play.”

With designs named “The Raptor Hand,” “The Cyborg Beast” and “The Odysseus Hand,” kids feel like superheroes and are proud of their prosthetics. Each hand costs just 50 dollars in materials.

In addition to bringing e-NABLE into classrooms to generate excitement for science, math, and engineering, and teach students how to use 3-D printers, the organization hopes to create outreach missions to bring 3-D printers to underserved nations.

“Our hope is to obtain enough funding to send 3-D printers, materials, and teams of volunteers to train local doctors and nurses how to create the devices in remote areas where there are countless victims of war and natural disasters who could benefit from a simple ‘helping hand,’” Owen said.

In late 2013, Not Impossible’s CEO and founder Mick Ebeling created a 3-D printing prosthetic lab and training facility in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. The mission is to teach any person to use technology for independence and empowerment no matter where they are located.

“Not only could we print an arm for [Project] Daniel, but we could also train a group of locals so they could continue to print 3D arms later on,” Kotek said. “With 3D printing you can continue to use the file and update.”

Not Impossible’s hand and arm design includes the use of customizable Orthoplastic, a breathable plastic to cover the part of the arm where the 3-D printed pieces attach.

According to Kotek, changing the size of the 3-D printed components is not necessary unless the prosthetic is made for a younger child. The entire process of preplanning and printing the hand, brackets, and cuffs takes just over a day. Materials for Not Impossible’s prosthetic arm total around 100 dollars, but are free of charge to those in need with funding help from large corporations like Intel and Precipart. “We encourage businesses to do good,” Kotek said.

...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...osthetics.html

[Suzanimal]

Using 3D printed prosthetics, Derby the dog can now walk and run for the first time in his life.

He was born with small forearms and no front paws like a furry little T-Rex, and he could only move around on soft surfaces as a result of the deformity.

So 3D Systems created some new legs for him using a 3D scanner and a multi-material 3D printer that could build both the sturdy base and comfortable rubber cups.

“He runs with Sherri and I every day, at least two to three miles,” said his owner Dom Portanova. “When I saw him sprinting like that on his new legs it was just amazing.

http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/dogs/share/67216641

[muh_roads]

If e-NABLE were to begin selling their hands or make them more complex, they would need to get FDA approvals.

Yeah I was going to say the reason why it costs $42K is because of the ridiculous medical device licensing imposed on the equipment that makes the prosthetics.

FDA can $#@! off. Eventually open-source instructions for making just about anything with a 3D printer will be available online.

[Suzanimal]

Woman Successfully Has Skull Removed and Replaced with 3D Printed Implant

For anyone that hasn’t seen the process demonstrated right in front of them, 3D printing is still something that sounds relatively futuristic.

But 3D printing is beginning to usher in a new era, one that recently led a team of surgeons to remove the top section of a woman’s skull and replace it with a 3D printed implant.

Made specifically for the patient, this implant was created using an unspecified type of tough plastic.

The team of surgeons, led by Dr. Bon Verweij at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, took a 22-year-old woman from the Netherlands who suffers from a chronic bone disorder and performed an operation that saved her from significant brain damage or even worse, death.

This particular patient’s skull was so thick (about two inches) that it reduced her eyesight and caused horrible headaches.

The operation took 23 hours, and was the first reported successful 3D printed cranium not rejected by the patient.

“It was only a matter of time before critical brain functions were compromised and she would die,” said Dr. Verweij. “Major surgery was inevitable, but prior to the 3D printing technique, there was no ideal effective treatment.”

Since going under the knife, she has entirely regained her eyesight and remains symptom-free.

At this point, it hasn’t been confirmed whether this implant will last a lifetime or if it will have to be replaced in the future, but surgeons expect her new skull to last indefinitely.

Dr. Verweij has previous experience working with 3D reconstructions of skulls, but this is his first time working with such a large implant.

“It is almost impossible to see that she’s ever had surgery,” said Dr. Verweij in the university’s official statement.

http://firsttoknow.com/3d-printed-sk...e=facebookpage

[Suzanimal]

3-D Printers Can Make Amazing Things, Here Are 20 Products That Blew Our Minds

3-D printers are amazing things. Surprisingly, the first 3-D printer was invented over 30 years ago, and technology has made huge leaps forward since then. While most people may think of 3-D printers as gimmicky, printing only toys and novelty items, these printers can do so much more. 3-D printers are on the verge of saving lives, halting world hunger, manufacturing eco-friendly clothes and cars...and of course, a few fun items, too. Check out the 20 amazing printables below. If these don't make you optimistic for the future, nothing will.

1.) Fetuses (I'm not including that pic, it's just creepy looking. Go to link if you want to see it, ya weirdo.)
A Japanese company will print a 3D model of your fetus after an ultrasound for 100,000 yen, which is a little over $840 in American currency. Because, why not?

2.) Guns


3.) Meat
One U.S. start-up, Modern Meadow, has created a 3-D printed meat prototype. Though it's not yet suitable for human consumption, it does look like the real deal

4.) Skin Grafts
After a bio-printer scans a patient's wound, new skin can be printed directly onto the injury. A portable model, that can be brought to war and disaster zones, is in the works.

5.) Bicycles
This 3-D printed trail bike is made of titanium and is fully customizable.


6.) Houses
While not actually possible yet, there are multiple plans in the works to 3-D print houses, including this Dutch architect's Landscape House.

7.) Cars
The first 3-D printed car is called the "Urbee" and gets up to 200 miles per gallon of gas.



8.) Camera Lenses
Lenses can cost thousands of dollars. 3-D printing could make camera lenses much more affordable.

9.) Ears
These printed ears are made from cow cartilage cells and collagen from rat tails. The ears have to be incubated for three months before they can be transplanted onto a human.


10.) Bartending Machines
Look out, bartenders. This 3-D printed machine can mix up any drink you want. I'll take a cosmo, please.

11.) Custom-Fit Clothing
3-D printers can make custom-fit clothing using your body's data. The printing process also leaves behind little-to-no waste, and could be an eco-friendly way to manufacture outfits very soon.

12.) Medical Models
3-D printed medical models could eliminate the use and need for cadavers in medical schools.

13.) Flutes
This printed flute is called a shakuhachi, a traditional Chinese flute dating back to the 8th century. This model was printed with bronze.

14.) Shoes
These shoes were printed by fashion designer Pauline Van Dongen as a part of the Future of Fashion exhibition in Amsterdam.

15.) Educational products
Maps and models for educational use can be made with 3-D printers, potentially making educational resources more affordable and accessible.

16.) Guitars
With 3-D printing, musicians can make replicas of their favorite guitarist's instruments.


17.) Bikinis (A custom swimsuit would be very cool.)
This printed bikini is waterproof, touted as the only swimsuit that becomes more comfortable when it gets wet.


18.) Pizza
This pizza-making printer was a project funded by NASA. Watch the pizza being printed here.


19.) 'Adult' Products
3DEA, an adult store in New York City, sells customizable 3-D printed adult products.

20.) 3-D Printers YAY!
Yes, 3-D printers can print more 3-D printers. The RepRap machine costs $600 dollars, but can print itself over and over again. Talk about a return on your investment.

http://scien.viralnova.com/3d-printer/?mb=4pages

[Suzanimal]

William Root's "Exo-Prosthetic" is a 3D printed artificial leg made from laser-sintered titanium, which uses a 3D scan of the wearer's truncated limb for fit, and a 3D scan of the intact limb for form.

Root says his process produces a cheaper, more durable, more functional, more comfortable product than the traditional model. The lacy, minimal-materials 3D printed form produces something strong but light.

http://boingboing.net/2014/12/28/3d-...hetic-leg.html

[Suzanimal]

Now I want a hermit crab.

These hermit crabs wear 3D printed miniatures of the world on their backs

The hermit crabs wearing shelters imitating the architecture of various countries. Though the body of the hermit crab is the same, according to the shell it is wearing, its appearance changes completely. It’s as if they were asking, “Who are you?”

Honfleur France


Aït-Ben-Haddou, Marocco


Thailand


Zaanse Schans Netherlands


New York


http://www.sciencedump.com/content/t...ld-their-backs

[Suzanimal]

This boy didn't have to be from a galaxy far, far away to become the coolest stormtrooper around.

Liam Porter of Augusta, Georgia, who was born without part of his left arm, received a big surprise last Saturday, the Augusta Chronicle reported. The 7-year-old "Star Wars" fan was brought to a room in his local movie theatre by people dressed up as Imperial Stormtrooper characters, and presented with a new prosthetic arm. What's more, the limb was created with a 3-D printer, and made to look like a stormtrooper arm.

"That’s something he is going to remember for the rest of his life," Bob Richards, Liam's grandfather, told the Augusta Chronicle of the moment the surprise was unveiled.

The arm was created by John Peterson, a member of the e-NABLE charity -- an organization that aims to make 3-D printers accessible to those who may not be able to afford them, the outlet reported. While a prosthetic normally costs thousands of dollars, $300 went into making Liam's arm, which is able to grip objects and could be adjusted according to the 7-year-old's growth.

It's technology that could mean improvements for Liam's daily life.

"Every day he was saying, 'Oh, if I had my helper arm, maybe I could do it with that,'" the 7-year-old's mother, Ryan, told the Chronicle. "It will make a lot of little things easier."

The prosthetic wasn't the only special thing to happen to Liam that day. The 501st Legion, a group of Star Wars cosplayers who are involved in charity work, also gave the boy a "Friend of the Garrison" certificate, making him part of their crew.

3-D printing technology has offered many a new beginning.

Daniel Omar, a 16-year-old from South Sudan, lost his arms from an Antonov bomb. Last year, Mick Ebeling, an American doctor, formed a team and successfully created a low-cost prosthetic made by a 3-D printer for the boy. The limb cost only about $100 and helped restore some of Daniel's independence, allowing him to feed himself for the first time in two years.

And last year, a 6-year-old Florida boy, who was born without most of his right arm, was able to hug his mom for the first time, when he was fitted with a 3D-printed myoelectric prosthetic.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...ushpmg00000063

[Suzanimal]

I bet e-NABLE could do it a lot cheaper.

It's a heartwarming video out of Birmingham, England.

In the video shot and shared by the BBC's "Midlands Today", a little girl named Anu, 7, sporting a bright yellow dress and a brand-new, bright pink prosthetic "sports blade," is greeted by her classmates with hugs and smiles on the school playground.

"It makes me run faster," Anu told "Midlands Today."

Calling it her "pink leg," Anu said the new blade also helped her "street dancing" and helped make recess at school much more enjoyable.

Professor describes the 'comedy of errors' of his children crashing BBC interview

According to "Midlands Today," Anu had her right leg amputated at birth. And, though she has a prosthetic leg that she wears daily, she received the new sports blade as part of the UK.. program.

In 2016, the government promised that nearly $2 million would be made available to children in England in need of prosthetic limbs. The funding, however, is expected to run out mid-2018 and the sports prosthetics have to be replaced every two years.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=47208467

[Suzanimal]

This 7-Year-Old Girl Is Pitching at the World Series With a 3D Printed Hand

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros will meet for Game 4 of the World Series. As with any Major League Baseball game, the competition will kick off with a ceremonial pitch. But this one will be especially awe-worthy, featuring a 7-year-old girl with a 3D-printed hand.

Hailey Dawson will fling the first baseball using a prosthetic hand that allows her to grip objects despite missing and underdeveloped fingers on her right side. When the invitation came in last month, “I started crying,” recalls Hailey’s mother Yong Dawson in an interview with CBS News. Hailey was born without a pectoral muscle on the right side, in a rare condition known as Poland syndrome. The resulting lack of blood flow to her arm meant that her right hand didn’t fully develop—she’s missing three fingers and has an underdeveloped thumb and pinky on her right hand. While she can do lots of things with her left hand, some things really take two.

At age 4, Hailey’s doctors told her parents that prosthetics just aren’t feasible for a child who will quickly outgrow them. Despite this, Hailey can now ride a bicycle and play in her hometown tee-ball league. Her 3D-printed hand has changed not only Hailey’s quality of life but how scientists are thinking about flexible, accessible, comfortable robotic hands.
“There are some really great robotic hands out there, but they’re very expensive,” Brendan O’Toole, chair of the mechanical engineering department at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, tells The Daily Beast. Hailey’s mother reached out to O’Toole after hearing about Robohand, a simple 3D-printed prosthetic with open-source design files. Theoretically, you can simply download, hit print, and have your own Robohand in a matter of hours. What Yong needed to find, she figured, was someone with access to a 3D printer.
A traditional prosthesis runs about $20,000, and Hailey would outgrow it in half a year. Hailey’s first hand was initially funded through grant for a summer research project by a couple of UNLV students. They adapted various open-source designs, particularly one called Flexy Hand 2, for her device.

It took more than half a year of design and prototypes to get the first hand right, says O’Toole. Subsequent ones are easier. The team has so far made about eight hands for Hailey, and two for another young girl. The university estimates that, after significant investments in refining the process, each new hand costs $5,000 in time, lab space, equipment, and materials. It is currently fundraising to make more prosthetic devices for more children.

“Additive manufacturing [3D printing] has made it possible to provide low-cost prosthetic devices for children like Hailey,” says O’Toole. “We can now make a few measurements of a child’s hand, process them through our custom design tool that generates 37 CAD [computer-aided design and drafting] models in a few minutes, and then have printed parts ready the next day.” The simplicity of the printing process belies the complexity of the work that goes into getting it right. The 3D printer reads the design files and prints the components by depositing material in layers to build up the shape. It takes only a matter of hours to complete the process. “Its beauty is in its simplicity,” O’Toole says. The prosthetic has a gauntlet that fits around Hailey’s wrist, which is attached to the robotic hand that fits over her own. The jointed fingers have a cable running through them, which attach to the gauntlet. By flexing at the wrist, Hailey puts tension on the cables, causing the device’s fingers to bend and grip. She relaxes, and the fingers open. It is designed to do only that one thing—grip and release. But that’s enough for a little girl who wants to hold onto both handlebars of her bike.

...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-7...d-printed-hand