Posts tagged: MedicalProsthetics

Ever since users and groups of people began using 3D printing to make prosthetics more affordable we’ve been waiting for a time when these easily iterable devices would evolve from prosthetic limbs into bionic limbs. The startup Open Bionics was likely founded upon this objective and over time it has come closer to achieving it. With the release of the official Metal Gear Solid prosthetic/bionic version of its Hero Arm, it’s definitely getting closer.

3DP4ME is a US non-profit operating in the Middle East. Its mission is to serve real human needs with practical 3D printing (AM) applications. The first project, titled The Hearing Express, will be located in Jordan and focused on providing hearing aids to young people.

Texas-based 3D printing company Essentium, Inc. is teaming up with Vorum, a provider of CAD/CAM software for custom orthotics and prosthetics (O&P), to offer a 3D printing solution for the global O&P market. The offering, the Essentium + Vorum solution, will be available to customers across the prosthetics market, enabling practitioners to manufacture and deliver customized orthotic and prosthetic devices to their customers, at speed and scale.

Based on Nanoscribe’s micro and nano 3D printing technology, scientists developed a 3D microscaffold cochlear implant for steroid elution. For the first time, scientists combined a highly precise, porous 3D printed steroid reservoir with a 2D MEMS-based electrode array to fabricate a novel cochlear implant. This implant is designed to reduce the damage of residual hearing against electrode insertion trauma.

A 3D printed bionic hand can be made to measure thanks to engineers at WMG, University of Warwick and a collaboration of other companies. The 3D printed IMPACT bionic hand incorporates muscle sensors to control an articulated thumb, enabling it to function similar to a human hand. It can be made to measure in 10 hours in a choice of colors.

UNYQ, a company specializing in custom 3D printed medical wearables, has launched its latest product: the UNYQ Socket, a 3D printed prosthetic leg socket. The new medical device can be paired with UNYQ’s custom 3D printed prosthetic covers and integrates sensors for monitoring the wearer’s activity.

It seems that cumbersome plaster casts could soon go the way of the dinosaurs thanks to new innovations in the medical field. 3D printing, for instance, is being increasingly exploited for the production of patient-specific casts and braces. ActivArmor, a producer of next-gen 3D printed medical devices, is taking its products to the next level with a partnership with LINE-X, a leader in protective coatings.

Sinterit, the world’s first producer of desktop SLS 3D printer, worked with a 3D designer to an exoskeleton arm – a solution that gives children with SMA the possibility to move their hands, draw, play and express themselves.