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3D printing gets more and more amazing each day.
Last month, we were telling you about a few 3D printed body parts on the robot Frank. But a man in Massachusetts has taken that idea and brought it to real life by 3D printing a prosthetic hand for his son.
Leon McCarthy, a 12-year-old who was born without fingers on his hand, was unable to do much with his hand before his dad’s project. But now, with his 3D printed prosthetic hand, he’s able to pick up food, hold a water bottle, and even draw.
While this story shows the power of 3D printing, it also shows how the internet helps us make the most of the technology we have. Paul McCarthy, Leon’s dad, actually used free plans from Ivan Owen, who 3D printed a hand in 2011, as a model for Leon’s prosthetic hand.
What’s more, Leon’s dad actually saved a significant amount of money by 3D printing the hand for Leon. Prosthetic hands can cost as much as $20,000, and although McCarthy invested in a $2,000 printer up front, the hand itself only cost about $10 to make.
This idea is hardly the first of its kind–which is a great thing, if you ask us. In addition to Owen’s design, there are many other organizations out there working to make prosthetics cheaper through 3D printing.
Robohand, for example, uses uses 3D printing to provide functional, safe, cost effective upper extremity assistive devices to help enable any individual with an upper limb difference. And the Open Hand Project, which was funded through IndieGoGo, a site similar to Kickstarter, uses 3D printing to create a low-cost robotic hand.
Needless to say, 3D printing isn’t just cool manufacturing technology (although we love it for that)–it’s changing lives. Whether for Leon, or for the many thousands of people who are sure to be helped by ongoing open-source prosthetic hand projects, 3D printing really is bringing us into the future.