Design of a 3D-printed hand prosthesis featuring articulated bio-inspired fingers

Various upper-limb prostheses have been designed for 3D printing but only a few of them are based on bio-inspired design principles and many anatomical details are not typically incorporated even though 3D printing offers advantages that facilitate the application of such design principles. We therefore aimed to apply a bio-inspired approach...

Functional evaluation of a non-assembly 3D-printed hand prosthesis

In developing countries, the access of amputees to prosthetic devices is very limited. In a way to increase accessibility of prosthetic hands, we have recently developed a new approach for the design and 3D printing of non-assembly active hand prostheses using inexpensive 3D printers working on the basis of material extrusion technology. This...

A review of the fatigue behavior of 3D printed polymers

As additive manufacturing of polymeric materials is becoming more prevalent throughout industry and research communities, it is important to ensure that 3D printed parts are able to withstand mechanical and environmental stresses that occur when in use, including the sub-critical cyclic loads that could result in fatigue crack propagation and...

Additive manufacturing of non-assembly mechanisms

Fabrication of complex and multi-articulated mechanisms is often seen as a time consuming and demanding process. The development of functional multi-articulated mechanisms that could be fabricated in a single step without the need for post-manufacturing assembly is therefore very attractive. Additive manufacturing (AM) has been pointed out as...