4 ms·

An open source prosthetic hand costing $1000

123 points by jhrf 13y ago

DanBC 13y ago
And for the people living on $2 per day there is the "soda bottle prosthetic". (http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/ http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-pros...) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg)
jhrf 13y ago
If anyone is interested in helping this project along there is an indiegogo page (below). I have no vested interest in this project, I simply think it's a great use of new tech with an altruistic bent. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-low-cost-robotic-hand http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-lo...
kiba 13y ago
If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis. It's more about the ability of prosthetic users being able to own the parts that has been implanted into their body than being able to modify it per se. This way, prosthetic users cannot be barred from law or practicality to seek competent prosthetic specialists and professional that's not from the same company that makes the prosthesis. For example, if I have an retinal prosthesis from a company that went bankrupt ten years ago, I can still seek services from some other company, with a technical manual and blueprint in hand.
- shakes 13y ago
  > If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis. My mom had her leg amputated 8 years ago, and seeing her go through the process of getting a prosthesis I couldn't agree more. Due to wear and tear, she has to get a new prosthesis approximately every 2 years. We're in the US, and with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. I'm unbelievably excited to see new and innovative approaches to tackle this problem.
  - acchow 13y ago
    > with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. You pay $10,000 out of pocket? How much is the total cost, and how much is covered by insurance? Also, wow.
    - DavidWanjiru 13y ago
      If this article is anything to go by, you shouldn't be surprised: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-s...
    - shakes 13y ago
      Yeah, $10,000 out of pocket. I'm not sure my parents have done the math on total cost / how much is covered by insurance. Insurance companies do a great job of obfuscating billing.
ejt 13y ago
This reminds me of an ultra low cost prosthetic arm that some friends of mine have been working on for a few years.[0] They originally set out to invent something very similar to this hand, but ended up designing and manufacturing low cost prosthetic arms for people in emerging and developing nations instead. It would be fascinating if someone ended up making a fully open source prosthetic arm that could be totally customized to the user's specifications and then fabricated locally for minimal cost. - [0] http://madebybump.org/ http://madebybump.org/
jobstijl 13y ago
This looks good. I don't have my left hand from birth and did try a prosthetic hand in the nineties. Then i found them to heavy and 'stupid' to use. This is something I definitely would like to try.
wcbeard10 13y ago
Seems like something the FDA would protect Americans from, no?
michaelbuckbee 13y ago
What I really love about this is (aside from the obvious awesomeness of more people getting the prosthetics that they need) is that it is a perfect usage fit for the level of output from consumer 3D printing devices like the Makerbot.
gabriel34 13y ago
Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't it be a nice, if not the best, way to lower the prices of prosthetics to make them usable by non-handicapped people? for instance, Doctor Octopus arms could fit everyone. That fiction is a bit far-fetched, but something similar and not so monstery-looking could improve everyone's lives. In fact, it could lessen the disability and, ideally, render it non-existent by making everyone equally able.
agumonkey 13y ago
Thinking not long ago this was in the news http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-homemade-bionic-limbs/ http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-ho...
mcmire 13y ago
This (and actually bodily augmentation in general) seems like something that 3D printing is perfectly suited for. I see this sort of thing blowing up in the next 10 years.

123 points by jhrf 13y ago

DanBC 13y ago

And for the people living on $2 per day there is the "soda bottle prosthetic". (http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/ http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-pros...) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg)

jhrf 13y ago

If anyone is interested in helping this project along there is an indiegogo page (below). I have no vested interest in this project, I simply think it's a great use of new tech with an altruistic bent. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-low-cost-robotic-hand http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-open-hand-project-a-lo...

kiba 13y ago

If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis. It's more about the ability of prosthetic users being able to own the parts that has been implanted into their body than being able to modify it per se. This way, prosthetic users cannot be barred from law or practicality to seek competent prosthetic specialists and professional that's not from the same company that makes the prosthesis. For example, if I have an retinal prosthesis from a company that went bankrupt ten years ago, I can still seek services from some other company, with a technical manual and blueprint in hand.

shakes 13y ago
> If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis. My mom had her leg amputated 8 years ago, and seeing her go through the process of getting a prosthesis I couldn't agree more. Due to wear and tear, she has to get a new prosthesis approximately every 2 years. We're in the US, and with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. I'm unbelievably excited to see new and innovative approaches to tackle this problem.
- acchow 13y ago
  > with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. You pay $10,000 out of pocket? How much is the total cost, and how much is covered by insurance? Also, wow.
  - DavidWanjiru 13y ago
    If this article is anything to go by, you shouldn't be surprised: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-s...
  - shakes 13y ago
    Yeah, $10,000 out of pocket. I'm not sure my parents have done the math on total cost / how much is covered by insurance. Insurance companies do a great job of obfuscating billing.

ejt 13y ago

This reminds me of an ultra low cost prosthetic arm that some friends of mine have been working on for a few years.[0] They originally set out to invent something very similar to this hand, but ended up designing and manufacturing low cost prosthetic arms for people in emerging and developing nations instead. It would be fascinating if someone ended up making a fully open source prosthetic arm that could be totally customized to the user's specifications and then fabricated locally for minimal cost. - [0] http://madebybump.org/ http://madebybump.org/

jobstijl 13y ago

This looks good. I don't have my left hand from birth and did try a prosthetic hand in the nineties. Then i found them to heavy and 'stupid' to use. This is something I definitely would like to try.

wcbeard10 13y ago

Seems like something the FDA would protect Americans from, no?

michaelbuckbee 13y ago

What I really love about this is (aside from the obvious awesomeness of more people getting the prosthetics that they need) is that it is a perfect usage fit for the level of output from consumer 3D printing devices like the Makerbot.

gabriel34 13y ago

Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't it be a nice, if not the best, way to lower the prices of prosthetics to make them usable by non-handicapped people? for instance, Doctor Octopus arms could fit everyone. That fiction is a bit far-fetched, but something similar and not so monstery-looking could improve everyone's lives. In fact, it could lessen the disability and, ideally, render it non-existent by making everyone equally able.

agumonkey 13y ago

Thinking not long ago this was in the news http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-homemade-bionic-limbs/ http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/06/01/chinese-man-makes-ho...

mcmire 13y ago

This (and actually bodily augmentation in general) seems like something that 3D printing is perfectly suited for. I see this sort of thing blowing up in the next 10 years.