Additive Manufacturing for Economical, User-Accessible Upper-limb Prosthetics

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to briefly describe the initial stages of our efforts towards the development of easy to manufacture, low-cost, three-dimensional (3D) printed prosthetics. Specifically, here we describe the design of an upper-limb prosthetic for youths. When private insurance and public funding are insufficient, financial resources are limiting factors in obtaining quality prosthetics for the amputee. The need for cost-effective, economical solutions for prosthetics is particularly important for children in that they frequently outgrow them and costs are prohibitively expensive. Thus, 3D printed prosthetics may pose as a potential solution. In parallel to the above objective, additive manufacturing (or three-dimensional (3D) printing) knowledge and training, within the rapidly growing field of Biomedical Engineering (or BME), is becoming increasingly important in that it may provide solutions for numerous medicallyrelated applications. As such, it is imperative that 3D printing exposure be incorporated, for research-based, as well as experiential project-based, contexts. Methods: Well-known mechanical design processes and quality function deployment were implemented here to design a prosthetic that could aid youths suffering from upper-limb loss. Computer-generated designs were used to in conjunction with a Cubify 3D printer to create the prosthetic hand components. Results: A simple, accessible, affordable design for an upper-limb was assembled that costed only $25. Conclusions: In the near-future, commercially available 3D printers may make developing one’s own prosthetics an easy to accomplish task within their home environment. In essence, this process would create a tighter coupling between how a product is conceived, developed,