A "Feel Good" story - 3D Printing Creates Low-Cost Prosthetic Fingers

[Wes Bucey]

Among my many trade journals, I came across this "feel good" story in the July issue New Equipment Digest. Many of you know I have a special interest in 3D printing, so the headline caught my eye.

The link is to page 34 of the online issue and I hope you are able to access it.
http://digital-edition.newequipment.com/newequipment/july_2014#pg34
The story is entitled 3D Printing Creates Low-Cost Prosthetic Fingers
The "feel good" part of this story is multi-faceted. A 3D printing company donated the printers (no strings.) The guys who worked out the designs and mechanics put the designs and instructions on the internet for free. Here's a pertinent quote from the story (the blue italics in brackets is MY comment.)

“[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It might not have all the functions of $10,000 prosthetic fingers [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif][each finger][/FONT], but then Robohand only needs about $150 in parts.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]After posting online about their success at creating Robohand, Owen and Van As soon got an email from Liam, a child who lost several fingers to Amniotic Band Syndrome. His family could not afford traditional prosthetics, especially since Liam would outgrow any prosthetic in a few months.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]To help them, and others around the world, Owen and Van As posted all the files needed to 3D-print a Robohand, as well as assembly instructions. Within three months of posting the files and information, more than 3,500 people world-wide downloaded them.”[/FONT]