14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since he was born, Jose Delgado Jr. has had to make do without a large part of his left hand. He's gone through a bunch of prosthetics by now, but the latest might be worth some attachment.
And we're not talking about the forty grand myoelectric prosthesis that he's been using. No, we're referring to the $50 / €36 3D printed one.
You read it right, a 3D printed prosthetic hand that cost $50 / €36 to make is more functional and provides a better grip than a myoelectric prosthesis whose cost was of $40,000 / €28,972.
It sounds pretty incredible, but that's what you get when you can build something quickly and easily, perfectly to specifications.
Sure, the cost of the 3D printer itself wasn't factored in the comparison, but it won't even put a dent into the cost difference.
Jose Delgado Jr. consented to a video interview in which he explores the differences between his previous hand and this one.
He is understandably astonished to realize that the grip of the 3D printed one is significantly stronger, enough that he expects to be able to drive with his left hand from now on.
The name of the new hand is Cyborg Beast. A good, strong name for something that blew a cutting-edge prosthesis out of the water.
And yes, that $50 / €36 price we have mentioned above includes the hardware that had to be installed after the 3D printing process was complete.
There's a 5-slot cable tensioning system (designed by Ivan Owen and David Orgeman) and some more components, plus padding and a Velcro fastener.
The gauntlet design was modified by Frankie Flood, but the basis was the Robohand created by Ivan Owen and Richard van As. Jorge Zuniga oversaw the 1.0 and 2.0 versions.
It's not hard to see that 3D printing technology can be a game changer on the prosthetic market. Eventually, all that effort put into 3D printed tissue (like cartilage 3D printing) will pay off and we could see hands and feet being rebuilt from organic material, regrown as it were. Until that happens, though, mechanical body parts are the way to go.
Granted, soon enough, we'll go from mainly mechanical to electronic add-ons (cyber parts indeed, more cyber than the Cyborg Beast itself really), but we've no doubt that 3D printing will be a great part of that also, when the time comes (probably in the near future).
