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Added on the 04/08/2015 03:59:24 - Copyright : Reuters - Next Media
Bolivian teen Leonardo Viscarra, who grew up without his left hand, has designed and built his own prosthesis using a 3D printer at his school and design help from Thingiverse. The 14-year-old was diagnosed with amniotic band syndrome, a birth defect which left him without his left hand. His prosthesis is made thermoplastic works with nylon threads that collect movements from his wrist and transmits them to the prosthetic fingers. Amazingly, the prosthetic cost Leonardo only about $100.
This is Soekchen a bumbling secretary bird that got a new lease on life after being fitted with a prosthetic leg. This feathered friend suffered a trauma to her leg and vets had to remove the limb. However, she's bouncing around again in the Walsrode Bird Park thanks to her new artificial limb. Soekchen is clearly overjoyed with being able to walk again and grateful to her carers for getting her the help she needed. The four-year-old bird got the new prosthetic leg which was built with the same 3D-technologies as prosthetics for children. In order to create anything with a 3D printer, you first have to make a 3D design using special software. The design is then used by the printer as instructions to form the shape you want. 3D printers place small bits of plastic down as layers, starting from the bottom of the design and slowly adding more layers on top until its ready. And what could have been another sad story turned into the happy ending as Soeckchen immediately became a superstar of the park, attracting more and more visitors. It's no wonder - Soekchen's strange walk seems to have the love of life built into it.
Two-year-old Agnia Shtak from the city of Armavir has found herself the envy of the playground after being fitted with a multi-function 3D-printed prosthetic hand developed by Moscow-based biomedical startup Motorica. Agnia, who suffers from a congenital hand deformity, demonstrated her wide range of skills while wearing the prosthesis at the Skolkovo Innovation Center in the Russian capital on Tuesday. "We've developed a very functional and very durable prosthesis, which can be put on children from two or three years of age," explained Motorika founder Ilya Chekh. He said this encourages a child "to learn how to use a functional prosthesis from the early years, and later at a more advanced level." Chekh also noted that children who wear the colourful prostheses often find they attract positive attention and interaction from other children. "When they see a kid with that kind of prosthesis, children get interested in it and want to see how it works. They even ask to try it sometimes," he explained. The company uses 3D-printing because they say it makes component parts more resilient and quicker to manufacture. Some models even have holders for special gadgets like video cameras and audio players. Motorika is a startup of the Skolkovo Foundation's Biomedical Cluster.
Meet Pooh, a cat who lost his hind legs after being hit by a car. Pooh is now walking again thanks to a one-of-a-kind operation that saw him get fitted with some special prosthetic paws in Bulgaria's capital Sofia. The ten-month-old cat’s new legs, made of polymer and rubber, were produced and implanted in Bulgaria. Following the operation, Pooh regained all of his lost weight and is playing like old times. The operation cost around $1,600 and was paid for by donations given to the animal rescue organisation “Let's Adopt Bulgaria”.
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