French non-profit organisation My Human Kit is working with Sculpteo to design and manufacture an open-source bionic hand.
Bionicohand has been conceived and developed by Nicolas Huchet, co-founder of My Human Kit, who is a forearm amputee.
My Human Kit has been set up to develop personalised, accessible and sustainable prosthetics, with the organisation teaming up with Sculpteo to leverage the service provider's additive manufacturing capability.
Thanks to the availability of the Bionicohand, Baptiste, a young amputee who discovered the bionic hand during a disability and robotics competition is one service user who has been able to benefit from this adapted and scalable prosthesis. Custom-designed thanks to a collaboration between prosthetists, designers, researchers, and Sculpteo, Baptiste now has a prosthesis that allows him to change hands without having to disconnect the wires.
"The collaboration with Sculpteo gives us access to certified, high-performance industrial-grade 3D printing materials, enabling us to create more functional and mechanical prototypes," Huchet said. "Having access to advanced expertise allows us to push the boundaries of manufacturing."
3D printing has been utilised to rapidly design body parts and adapt the prosthetics to each body shape, usage and aesthetic preference. With additive manufacturing, My Human Kit says it becomes possible to create specific aids for needs that would not normally be addressed on the traditional market.
According to My Human Kit, amputees have limited access to personalised prosthetics due to restrictive healthcare reimbursement policies, while there is a lack of 'affordable, specialised assistive devices' for daily life and leisure activities. In response to these challenges, My Human Kit has tapped Sculpteo's Multi Jet Fusion capacity to produce prosthetics in Nylon PA12.
The organisation is now aiming to create the first open-source library of 3D hands through its 'Hand Donation' project, allowing users to choose aesthetically pleasing models tailored to their body shape and identity. Sculpteo supports the association in the choice of technologies, design optimisation, part sealing, and the durability of printed solutions.
