14 DAY TRIAL // We've already established that 3D printing technology has made prosthetics several orders of magnitude more awesome than they've ever been, cutting price by a factor of ten thousands while improving usability. However, this has mostly applied to purely mechanical prosthetics, until now.
We've seen teachers make a replacement hand for a 7-year-old, complete 3D-printed hands priced at $45 / €33 instead of ten thousand times that amount, we’ve even learned of a junior high school student making a 3D-printed hand for her science project.
What all those replacement limbs have in common, however, is that they are purely mechanical. The fingers move according to certain cords that stretch based on how you move your elbow, or some similar method.
There hasn't been an actual 3D-printed bionic hand yet. Now, though, a company called YouBionic has revealed just that: a 3D-printed bionic prosthetic hand. They haven't completed it yet, granted, but it's coming at last.
And it looks quite nice. The moving parts aren't exposed, making the hand look like a bunch of metal and plastic bearings stitched together. There are actual coverings, plates with both aesthetic and useful purpose (good grip).
According to Federico Ciccarese, the hand is (or will be) controlled by an Arduino microcontroller and commercial servomotors. As for the actual hand, nylon was used for the prototype, thanks to its flexibility, which made it possible to print it all in one go. The best assembly process is no assembly after all.
The folks at YouBionic didn't use normal 3D printers (FDM, consumer-available), but a selective laser sintering machine for the prototype. The subsequent hands should be doable on the former though.
Unfortunately, since this is an artificial limb that works based on electric pulses given off by the arm muscles, the YouBionic prosthetic hand will not cost as little as the ones we mentioned before. It should still stay in the sub-$1000 / €750 – 1000 zone.
YouBionic may or may not offer the 3D print plans up for sale once its bionic 3D-printed hand is complete. That way, you'll only need some programming and engineering know-how to assemble your own (provided the company also releases the software).
Getting the various motors, sensors and parts will probably be more trouble than it's worth for the amputees' relatives and/or friends, though, not to mention the assembly, so buying the YouBionic prosthetic hand like any other product will most likely appeal more.
