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posted by n1 on Monday April 21 2014, @05:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the designed-on-a-raspberry-pi-and-paid-for-with-bitcoin dept.

Over the last several months, some of the more inspiring stories around 3D printing have had to do with the printing of prosthetic devices, particularly hands. It appears at least some prefer the cheaper 3D printed models to the expensive options. This is one such story.

I was very curious to see what sort of experience he would have with the 3D printed Cyborg Beast mechanical hand design (total cost in materials of about $50), but I wasn't expecting too much. Jose works in an environment that involves a lot of lifting and moving of boxes, so I was kind of expecting that the Cyborg Beast, which in this case is made of ABS plastic (same material as legos), wouldn't hold up for long. To my surprise, however, Jose says it's been doing very well, and that he actually prefers it to his far more expensive myoelectric prosthesis!

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by mrchew1982 on Monday April 21 2014, @06:32AM

    by mrchew1982 (3565) on Monday April 21 2014, @06:32AM (#33868)

    I'm pretty sure that the people who make the $43k model aren't gonna be too happy about this succeeding in their prime market. I smell a patent lawsuit just around the corner...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21 2014, @08:44AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21 2014, @08:44AM (#33885)

      Why should they be upset? I am sure the "hobbyist" version is not approved by the medical agencies and third party payers that seem to have a vested interest in keeping the prices sky-high.

      Rich people with insurance are not paying that much attention to price. Someone else pays.

      What this is going to help is the poor soul that couldn't afford it anyway, so some friend will go home and run one off for him as an act of kindness.

      Not all Americans are like Ferengi.

    • (Score: 2) by Skarjak on Monday April 21 2014, @02:24PM

      by Skarjak (730) on Monday April 21 2014, @02:24PM (#33977)

      If people can get away with printing guns, I doubt a lawsuit will have much impact here. The files will live on on the internet.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Sir Garlon on Monday April 21 2014, @02:47PM

      by Sir Garlon (1264) on Monday April 21 2014, @02:47PM (#33991)

      I don't see why the makers of the expensive hand have cause to get upset. From TFA:

      This 3D printed prosthesis is a completely mechanical design.

      In contrast,

      [the] myoelectric version ... uses the muscle signals in his forearm to trigger the closing or opening of the fingers.

      There's a big difference in functionality between the two.

      If the $43,000 hand isn't as useful in day-to-day work as the $50 3-D printed hand, that's not necessarily a bad thing. There still might be a very good reason to want the myoelectric hand; it might enable the wearer to do lots of things that are valuable to quality of life but fall outside Mr. Delgardo's job.

      It seems unlikely the same patents govern both types of hands, and any patent covering the simpler mechanical hand may well be expired.

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday April 21 2014, @03:29PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 21 2014, @03:29PM (#34013)

      The standard soylent car analogy would be assuming Tesla Inc would get angry at a guy who built a working replica of an electric golf cart in his basement.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by AnonTechie on Monday April 21 2014, @10:18AM

    by AnonTechie (2275) on Monday April 21 2014, @10:18AM (#33895) Journal

    There are many who cannot afford the high costs charged by FDA approved suppliers. Handicapped people worldwide would heartily welcome such a drastic reduction in costs. I gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all those involved in helping dis-advantaged people. I sincerely hope that such devices gives them new hope for better future and improved quality of life.

    --
    Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Geotti on Monday April 21 2014, @02:43PM

    by Geotti (1146) on Monday April 21 2014, @02:43PM (#33987) Journal

    While costing a bit more, Easton LaChappelle's [youtube.com] version [shapeways.com] seems to be very interesting as well, with its neural interface.

  • (Score: 1) by Kazashi on Tuesday April 22 2014, @02:21AM

    by Kazashi (3618) on Tuesday April 22 2014, @02:21AM (#34225)

    I would imagine a lot of that high cost of the myoelectric prosthesis comes from certification. Like so many other gadgets, you need to pay to have it tested and certified as fit for medical uses; even though an identically functioning DIY model may be a fraction of the price, a clinic would not be legally allowed to install one due to liabilities not being covered.

    Disclaimer: I used to be a prosthetic technician. Some of my colleagues were interested in things like the Open Prosthetics Project, but due to the above situation were not in any kind of position to make use of them.