While mindlessly browsing Facebook today I came across a very interesting article. For the low price of $45 we are now capable of printing a mechanical 3d hand that is, according to many users, better than any mech hand on the market made by the major prosthetic companies.
This got me thinking...With the push in 3D printing technology, the ever strengthening materials, and the constant battle to obtain a prosthetic from insurance companies...Why aren't the big prosthetic companies making a huge push for Insurance Fairness for Amputees? With the lack of access to reliable and high performance prosthetic equipment, mankind is doing what it has always done when faced with a problem...We are adapting. Now with the Open Hand Project, and countless others, hand amputees have more options than ever.
To add to the dilemma, 3D printed sockets are now available for upper extremity and below knee amputees, how long till every class of amp is included. With very little knowledge in the AutoCAD program and a Microsoft Kinect camera from an XBOX, you can now 3d scan in your own limb, design a socket to fit, and soon, attach this socket to your own home printed limb....It boils down to this. The Apathy of the manufacturers is going to put them out of business. They are too blinded by their own success to look down and see the patients on whom their limbs reside, and rely on. Why would I jump through the hoops and red tape for a prosthetic, when I can design one just for what I want it to do from the comfort of my own living room? Unless this lack of response is reversed and pressure placed on the correct sources (ie Congress, not the people designing the limbs they couldn't receive through traditional means) then they are going to put themselves out of business.
Most people putting their prosthetic designs on the internet for 3D printing aren't doing so to make a quick dollar, no, they are doing so because they can see the insanity of denying a person a limb that could give them back a quality of life that is similar, if not better, than they had prior to their amputation. We need to join forces, there are 2 million of us in the United States, not to mention the tens of thousands of employees that are working for the big name prosthetic makers.
If you are reading this, please send this to your prosthetist, your doctors, your prosthetic company, whomever you think may benefit from prosthetic parity. The time is now...
Follow along on the adventures of an amputee Paramedic. I have now fell into activism/advocacy work for Insurance Fairness for all amputees. I occasionally do some Motivational Speaking, I'm writing a book, and of course blogging all that stuff here. Follow me through all my wins and losses in the fight to break the stereotype of what amputees are capable of. I may write about EMS, Healthcare, Amputees, or Nonsense. Follow the blog and see what today brings!
