3D Printed Bionic Hand

About

There are 1 million upper limb amputees across South Africa, with an estimate of another 5 million in the rest of Africa. Research has shown that amputees find available prostheses too expensive, uncomfortable and/or having limited functionality. This results in many amputees discarding their prostheses within a few months to a year after initial fitting. Wits has developed a functional and low-cost 3D printed robotic prosthetic hand where surface electrodes are placed on an amputee’s upper arm muscle. When the amputee thinks about contracting their muscle, their muscle responds, causing the prosthetic hand to close and form a grasp. With the help of sensors, placed on each fingertip and the palm of the hand, the amputee ‘feels’ the object the prosthetic hand grasps through small vibration motors. After some time, this vibration feedback from the sensors is interpreted by their brain as feeling the object. With the Wits 3D printed prosthetic hand, amputees will be able to complete their daily tasks efficiently once more.