Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Engineering
Faculty Mentor
Asheesh Lanba, PhD
Abstract
Sufferers of upper limb loss in the Dominican Republic and the developing world at large need cheap and effective prosthetics that allow them to re-establish an acceptable quality of life, by making it possible to work and accomplish other day to day tasks. They require an arm that is both strong and durable to withstand manual labor and environmental strain, and appear aesthetically human, for a low cost of about $100.
We hope to produce a model which improves upon existing solutions both in strength as well as in accurate aesthetic. To improve strength, we focus on the mechanism used to actuate the closing and clenching of the hand; to improve aesthetic, we focus on the combination of material and fabrication method - to obtain tuned skin color matching, texture quality, and arm-like geometry.
Open Access?
1
3D Printing Low-Cost Prosthetic Arms for the Developing World
Sufferers of upper limb loss in the Dominican Republic and the developing world at large need cheap and effective prosthetics that allow them to re-establish an acceptable quality of life, by making it possible to work and accomplish other day to day tasks. They require an arm that is both strong and durable to withstand manual labor and environmental strain, and appear aesthetically human, for a low cost of about $100.
We hope to produce a model which improves upon existing solutions both in strength as well as in accurate aesthetic. To improve strength, we focus on the mechanism used to actuate the closing and clenching of the hand; to improve aesthetic, we focus on the combination of material and fabrication method - to obtain tuned skin color matching, texture quality, and arm-like geometry.
