7 year old Girl Receives 3-D Printed Prosthetic Hand

You love the title of this post, right? Yes, that's the kind of amazing stuff technology does. While the technology (3-D printing) behind the news in this article has been around for a while and has been put to a wide variety of use, I still get fascinated by the varied use 3-D technology.

So what is 3-D printing?

Well, there is Wikipedia, where you can get an instant information overload on 3-D printing, so I won't go into details. I'll just give a brief overview of it. Let's use the image below to describe it.
Assuming you have Yoda's entire body (the Star Wars character in the picture below) graphically designed on a software. Then you want to "manufacture" it using plastic. What you see in the picture below is a 3-D printer that can 'print' (manufacture) the Yoda computer model you have using plastic(not exactly plastic but something similar). The 3-D printer below has a movable nozzle that carefully 'prints' the 'molten' plastic layer by layer until the model is printed. In the picture below, the head has been printed, layer by layer.

                                         Image Credit: Gizmodo


I know your imaginations will be running wild as to the potential applications of this - yes, let them run wild! But exercise caution, there are still quite a few challenges, especially to home use. In fact there are a number of Nigerian companies, including Stampar3D, doing excellent work in 3-D manufacturing and in prosthetics.

Varied use of 3-D printing

                                          Photo credit: AP
The 7-year old girl's left arm was amputated when she was just 9-months old. Her 3-D printed limb, pictured with her above, was printed for her by Build It Workspace. In Africa, there are hundreds of amputees who need help, just like this little girl, and we are beginning to see 3-D printing coming to the rescue.

• Limb printing in Uganda
• 3-D limb printing in Sudan
• Not Impossible - Limb printing Charity

Prosthetics is not the only field 3-D printing has found relevance, it has found relevance in so diverse fields that I can't even begin to list them here. 3-D printers have had a profound effect on manufacturing, medicine, construction, research, art etc. Just read the Wiki article here to get an idea.  3-D printers are even being marketed as consumer products; users printing their own designs.

What does it mean for you?

Although, there are still quite a few challenges, some people will have you believe that in the near future, you will be able to print a new toy for your kid or new cutleries in your home in a matter of minutes. It doesn't get more real than that! Beyond that, the revolution in manufacturing may mean cheaper products for you. As with limb printing, we certainly will see more innovative application. All in all, how will it profit you?

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