SA boy gets robotic hand
2013-02-10 11:09
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Johannesburg
– A South African boy has received a mechanical 3D-printed robotic hand thanks
to his mother and a unique collaboration between a South African carpenter and
a US prop maker.
Liam, 5, was
born without fingers on his right hand due to amniotic band syndrome, reported
Yahoo News.
His mother
learned about a unique project on the internet in which a South African
carpenter who lost fingers on his right hand in a work accident, collaborated
with a US prop maker to design a prosthetic finger.
Richard van
As described the progress of this project with Ivan Owen on his blog, Coming Up
Short Handed.
Liam’s mom
read about it and contacted Van As, asking if they would help her son. They
said yes and the result was “Robohand”.
Within three
days of being fitted with the contraption, Liam was able to use his new hand.
"Just 3
days after receiving his finished Robohand…Liam is off and learning to use it
like a champion! A little guy who couldn’t grasp anything with his right hand
can now even pick up an object as small and difficult as a coin!! Imagine how
many other little folks are out there who could benefit from this
technology!" the Robohand creators said.
The
custom-made Robohand was made at much lower cost than traditional prosthetics
and the design has been released into the public domain as open source on Thingiverse.
“We
encourage anyone who can make use of this design for any purpose to do
so," Van As and Owen said.
