The Hybrid Finger

Combining Nature with Technology into a 3D Printed Finger for a Hand Prosthesis with Minimized Assembly

Master thesis (2018)

Authors

M.C. van der Kroft Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

C. Culmone (supervisor 1)
J.S. Cuellar Lopez (supervisor 1)
P. Breedveld (supervisor 1)
G. Smit (supervisor 1)
A. Sakes (supervisor 2)
D.H. Plettenburg (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2018 Merle van der Kroft
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Published Date

30-01-2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Access to prosthetics is very limited to many potential
users, while the need is high. There are two main reasons
for this that both are related to the production of prosthetics: the lack of skilled people and high costs. Minimized
assembly production using 3D printing could be a solution: no training is required, assembly takes only a short
amount of time and cheap materials can be used. Besides,
3D printing is a good method for customization. Therefore, this study proposes a 3D-printed finger for a bodypowered hand prosthesis with minimized assembly. The
design approach is the following. First, the human finger
anatomy is studied. Then, a stylized version of the human
finger is made that includes only the functions required for
the prosthesis. Finally, the design principles of the stylized
finger are evaluated and structurized. Based on the design
principles, a finger for a prosthetic hand is designed and
a prototype is developed. The prototype is produced with
an Ultimaker 3 using a rigid and a flexible material in one
print. The evaluation of the prototype shows promising
results. The finger is suitable for a hand prosthesis that
can perform an adaptive power grip and a pinch grip. The
mass of the finger is 17 grams, which makes the finger
comfortable to wear. An actuation force of only 16 N is
required to fully bend the finger. Minimized assembly and
cheap production are achieved: only four assembly steps
are required and the material costs are only 1.68 euros
per finger. In conclusion, the prototype shows a promising
step in the direction of a hand prosthesis that is affordable,
functional, body-powered, and has minimized assembly