News / Africa
A South African boy gets robotic hand
10 Feb 2013 at 06:50hrs | Views
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 ambiotic 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.
Liam, 5, was born without fingers on his right hand due to ambiotic 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.
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.
Source - News24
