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The $100 3D-Printed Artificial Limb

Posted by Soulskill on from the i'll-order-a-dozen dept.

harrymcc writes "In 2012, TIME wrote about Daniel Omar, a 14-year-old in South Sudan who lost both arms to a bomb dropped by his own government. Mick Ebeling of Not Impossible Labs read the story, was moved — and went to Sudan, where he set up a 3D printing lab which can produce an artificial arm for $100. Omar and others have received them, and Ebeling hopes that other organizations around the world will adopt his open-source design to help amputees, many of whom will never receive more conventional prosthetics."

17 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Fancy that... by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't worry, big pharma will lobby for and get regulations against anything so convenient and affordable.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. I didn't RTFA or TFS by dale.furno · · Score: 3

    but I'm going to go ahead and say that there is some organization that believes it has the right to require testing, certification or some other factor that will increase the $100 limb to the $10,000 limb.

    1. Re:I didn't RTFA or TFS by PSVMOrnot · · Score: 4, Informative

      The beautiful thing about this is that while such certification and testing may be required of manufacturers and distributors of such products, there is nothing that can be done to stop you from building one yourself or with a few friends.

      There are others who have also traveled this path, and a number of open source designs available for anyone to have a go at: Robohand @ Thingiverse, Prosthetics @ Thingiverse

    2. Re:I didn't RTFA or TFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Having worked with prosthetics for years as an occularist and training to make prosthtic limbs, I know just how complex they can become.

      There are two main categories of limbs, AK (or AE) and BK (or BE) depending on if the patient's limbs were removed Above the Knee (/elbow) or Below the Knee (/elbow). AK prosthetics are MUCH more complex than BK due to having to produce a joint that locks when needed then unlocks when needed. It's not simple at all. Arms are much the same, adding an elbow joint greatly increases the complexity and cost to produce a working prosthetic.

      Remember this: The prosthetic was produced for $100 in parts. That does not cover the time it took to produce the device. It doesn't cover the cost of the machine that produced the device. It didn't cover the cost of the education that the manufacturer was required to have (If he was working in the US prior to this) and it didn't cover any of the training that's needed to be able to actually use one of these devices. All of those costs were shouldered by the men who chose to help. That's wonderful! I applaud it readily!

      But I don't think it's sustainable. What happens when rent is due or someone wants him to pay for dinner? Free is not sustainable. Should a prosthetic device cost $10,000? Probably not. $100,000? I can think of three devices which cost that much. One is a leg that has powered ankle and knee joints which allow users to walk, jog, climb, and run like normal people. One is a hand that moves like a real hand and is controlled by the user's thoughts. The other is a prosthetic eye which actually allows a blind person to see again. They are all so expensive because they are bleeding edge devices which are still in trials (and as such, only a few of them actually exist to purchase.)

      In reality, a prosthetic eye shouldn't cost more than $100-200. The problem with that is that there are so few people who need them, and the skills required to make them are so complex, that it would be impossible to survive as an occularist without charging much, much more. (I see about 100 clients a year and I am the only occularist in my state.)

      Prosthetic legs are different. 80% of a prosthetic leg comes off a shelf. I buy feet, ankles, knees, and "shins;" then bolt them on to sockets I make custom for each patient. I don't have any control over how much a knee costs my clients. I could easily hire a machinist to produce the parts for a fraction of the cost, but that is illegal. I could easily go to the hardware store and grab a 1 inch aluminum pipe to use as a shin for a client for a couple of dollars, but it's illegal to do so even though it's the exact same part I buy for around $100 from a supplier.

      Even if I could cut my costs down by making or buying cheaper parts legally, it would be impossible to produce a $100 prosthetic in anything resembling a sustainable business model. There just aren't enough clients out there who need my services for me to keep my employees lights on at that price.

    3. Re:I didn't RTFA or TFS by rmdingler · · Score: 2
      What is the premise for which it is illegal to substitute cheaper parts, he wondered aloud?

      And a good post=very informative.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    4. Re:I didn't RTFA or TFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I could easily go to the hardware store and grab a 1 inch aluminum pipe to use as a shin for a client for a couple of dollars, but it's illegal to do so even though it's the exact same part I buy for around $100 from a supplier.

      In the US, maybe. But this article is about Sudan. Luckily we don't have tens of thousands of people a year losing limbs due to a horrible civil war, and luckily they don't have any lawyers.

      Sure, living in a war-torn country and working for minimal pay is not probably not something you (or I) want to do, but luckily there are in fact people who do. And the victims/patients have no money whatsoever, so it won't matter to them whether it's $100 or $100,000. But it will matter to those people/companies/governments donating money and time. That's the whole POINT of TFA! They want to give 1000 refugees the ability to feed themselves, not one yuppie the ability to climb their indoor rock wall again. An they actually provided the equipment and training and the locals are now printing and assembling the limbs themselves.

  3. do Sudanese like video games? by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Informative

    A good start, but with a per capita GDP of ~$1100 USD, that's still a good chunk of money. Keep working on driving down costs, guys!

    For $120, you can give the gift of GOAT .

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:do Sudanese like video games? by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Click on a link called "Goat"? Yeah right.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  4. One step closer to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...building my own girlfriend.

    1. Re: One step closer to... by AvitarX · · Score: 2

      Real close, my girlfriend is just an arm and a hand.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  5. Comparison to conventional prosthetics? by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It would be interesting to know how long these printed artificial limbs will hold up compared to a conventional prosthetic limb. It would also be interesting to know how much a conventional prosthetic could be made for w/o all of the overhead. I realize that in the US there's a ton of money dumped into testing, trials, FDA approval, lawyers and fear of being sued. But why can't conventional prosthetic limbs be made in countries like this without all of the legal BS? Obviously they can be printed w/o it. I don't know what the average yearly wage is in Sudan, but $100 could be a rather sizable amount of money. Regardless, good for Mr. Ebeling for trying to make a difference.

    1. Re:Comparison to conventional prosthetics? by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 2

      It would be interesting to know how long these printed artificial limbs will hold up compared to a conventional prosthetic limb. It would also be interesting to know how much a conventional prosthetic could be made for w/o all of the overhead. I realize that in the US there's a ton of money dumped into testing, trials, FDA approval, lawyers and fear of being sued. But why can't conventional prosthetic limbs be made in countries like this without all of the legal BS? Obviously they can be printed w/o it. I don't know what the average yearly wage is in Sudan, but $100 could be a rather sizable amount of money. Regardless, good for Mr. Ebeling for trying to make a difference.

      The other thing to consider is that this makes prosthetics for children (who have this annoying tendency to grow) MUCH easier -- I'm sure someone could even design a limb that is designed to be expandable, so that you only have to re-print a few key parts as the child grows, instead of having to make a new limb every year.

    2. Re:Comparison to conventional prosthetics? by NixieBunny · · Score: 2

      My wife has a high-tech wooden leg, so I'm familiar with how long they last, about five years. I also have a 3D printer, but I've never considered printing a leg socket. I'd expect the fingers in this hand to eventually break, as the wearer tests the limits. Fortunately, printing a single component is not expensive at all.

      The idea of using the 3D printer to make the fiddly bits is excellent. It's also possible to use regular materials to make limb pieces. PVC pipe has been used in India.

      In the long run, a local prosthetics cottage industry that relies on commonly available components and supplies should be self-sustaining, if the cost of materials is borne by humanitarian agencies.

      --
      The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
  6. Durability by jklovanc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder how long those limbs last under the hard use they will be put through.

  7. Re:3D printing hype nonsense by wjcofkc · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't think the idea is that Sudanese will be forking over $100 for an artificial limb. This is a charitable cause. If you watch the video closely, enough raw material was unloaded to make at least 1,000 and they were left with the manufacturing means and training to make more. The article states that they are currently making about one per week. I don't think anyone over there has the money for this, which brings it back to a charitable cause.

    You did read the article and watch the video, right?

    When the $100 figure is cited, they are not saying that the Sudanese will be forking over that sum, they are saying that at that price point, they can be provided as a charitable cause. Considering this guy was able to raise the money to do this in the first place, I am sure there is material resupply money at hand.

    Also, you are a jerk.

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  8. Re:3D printing hype nonsense by easyTree · · Score: 2

    You might note that your 'robotic hand' solution has the slight downfall of needing an actual hand to operate it :P

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    Requiem for the American Dream
  9. Re:Fancy that... by magarity · · Score: 2

    There's not that much of a business regulatory environment in South Sudan.