Three Advances in Prosthetics - ASME E-Nable is a global online community of volunteers who make free 3D-printed, low-cost prosthetics for children and adults in need Open-source designs created by volunteers have produced prosthetics for some 8,000 people, according to the organization At the upper end, 3D printing enables more custom, transparent designs for legs
Precise Prosthetics for Elite Athletes - ASME Prosthetics that exactly fit will allow their wearers to climb mountains or cycle to victory, says Florian Blab, a Fraunhofer scientist working on a project that would put an end to the time-consuming and expensive fitting procedure athletes now go through to fit a prosthetic limb tailored to their needs
The Civil War and the Birth of the US Prosthetics Industry - ASME Image courtesy of Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics Birth of an Industry The person who launched the era of modern prosthetics was also the first documented amputee of the Civil War—Confederate soldier James Edward Hanger Hanger, who lost his leg above the knee to a cannonball, was first fitted with a wooden peg leg by Yankee surgeons
Everyday Prosthetic Fingers - ASME Dan Didrick is the inventor of X-Fingers, stainless steel prosthetic fingers in which each digit contains 23 moving parts or more For those without residual fingers, a wire runs into the webbing between the fingers to receive open and flex impulses The device is attached to the wrist and fitted over the hand and the residual fingers
3D Printing Blooms in Biomedical - ASME From prosthetics to cartilage and tissue engineering, 3D printing is helping address some of today’s biomedical challenges
Advances in Prosthetics Create Realistic Motion and Touch The latest advancements in prosthetic limb technology include smart artificial skin and improved neural connections From LUKE arm to UofU invention and DeTOP research on direct wiring to nerves Engineers at NUS and MIT are also developing smart gloves and super-fast electronic skins The science-fiction images of bionic limbs controlled by the brain and providing authentic sensory feedback
Blog: Play-Powered Engineering—From Puppets to Inclusive Toys From puppets that animate science to ride-on cars adapted for children with disabilities and robotic dogs built by students, play becomes a powerful stage for engineering’s creativity and compassion
A Prosthetic Arm Bangs the Drums - ASME Jason Barnes had dreamed of being a professional drummer since he was a teenager But when he lost part of his right arm in a workplace accident at the age of 22, that goal was put in jeopardy Barnes didn’t give up After the accident, he built himself a homemade prosthetic drumstick; unfortunately that tool didn’t give him the control he needed to play at a professional level Then he