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Take a Look at 3D Printed Prosthetic Hands (2015-02-25)
3D printing is doing its part to give the world a helping hand. This time around, though, 3D printing is being used to improve the design of prosthetic limbs, which are not very fashionable to begin with. The Raptor Hand has been developed by designers at e-NABLE, which is a non-profit global network which uses the newest technology in 3D printing to provide people with solutions using 3D printing wares.
Licensed under Creative Commons-Attribution-Share Alike license, the Raptor Hand which has been completely designed using a 3D printer features a modular tensioning system, snap pins and is compatible to both leather and Velcro palm exposures.
While e-Nable has been designing robotic hands for little over a year now, the latest prosthetic hand which has been designed by e-Nable is unique, as in, the Raptor Hand has taken on a more realistic appearance rather than the robotic looking prosthetic hands that we are used to seeing. The most recent 3D synthetic hand has been printed using flexible skin and uses a especially designed filament that gives the prosthetic hand its life-like appearance.
Andreas Bastian, another member of the e-Nable team, who is also a big name when it comes to 3D printing technology has designed his own 3D printable prosthetic hand, which is called, the Raptor Reloaded.
The Raptor Reloaded is the updated version of the Raptor Hand, and the device has been designed using Fusion 360, which is a free CAD tool which is able to import and export almost all solid body modeling formats like IGES and STEP. The whole idea of modeling a 3D prosthetic hand in a tool that is compatible with many CAD packages is that it can be easily modified according to the person’s needs. With the availability of the new set of source files, instead of designing a 3D prosthetic hand from scratch in the CAD software, all one needs to do now is download the source files and work on the specific part of the prosthetic hand.
When it comes to the newest technology, Bastian has been responsible for dozens of new innovations related to 3D printing. As a way of pleasing young females, the 3D designer has also unveiled paintable fingertips for the 3D printed prosthetic hand. According to Bastian, the fingernails of the 3D printed hand can be painted any color with the help of a regular nail polish. This is indeed great news for all those women out there who want a fully functional prosthetic hand which is both affordable and realistic in its appearance.
The e-Nable community is just a year old and has gone from initially 70 members to over 1300 members which are growing rapidly. The community started off with designing one wrist-based design which has since been expanded to five wrist-based designs and elbow actuated devices, and also a myo arm for those who do not have an arm at all.
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