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Dec 2, 2014 | By Alec

Is gift-giving becoming a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as well? For one seven-year old girl from Lynchburg, Virginia, received one of the most special gifts of her life last week: a bionic, custom-made 3D printed arm. Madelyn Rebsamen was born with most of her left arm missing, but this very functional arm exactly fits her proportions and will finally allow her to play on the monkey bars as well.

Now, while wonderful news, the 3D printed part of this story isn't exactly new. Thousands of people around the world are already profiting from the recent surge in 3D printed prosthetics. Not only are these far more affordable than all traditionally-manufactured prosthetics available on the medical market, they're also far easier to customize and adjust.

But there are just two problems with these wonderful products; they tend to only replace the hand, so are hardly helpful for people missing the arms, while virtually all of them only feature a simple mechanical grip. Simply flick your wrist up or downwards, and the fingers move inwards or outwards.

While this is already an improvement upon the traditional and unaffordable prosthetics, the real revolution in amputee convenience will doubtlessly be in bionic prosthetics, that register and function through electronic signals from the arm's muscles. While bionic prosthetics are currently not yet widely available, more and more prototypes, like Madelyn's new arm, are being developed. And this model is particularly special, as it replaces a large section of Madelyn's arm, rather than just the hand.

As a local news channel reported, a team of volunteering students part of Limbitless Solutions Foundation drove up from the University of Central Florida to install this bionic arm in time for Thanksgiving. Since it is the first model that doesn't stop at the wrist, they had to tinker with it a bit to make sure everything worked. But, inspired by Madelyn's giggling, they were able to get their creation fitted and functioning.

Madelyn and her family were absolutely thrilled with this revolutionary and life-changing gift. As her mom, Bonnie Rebsamen, told reporters: 'To finally find somebody that was so excited to make it for us, and it was going to be fast. [Limbitless Solutions Foundation is] hoping to change the stigma from "oh, where's your arm?" to "oh wow! that's your arm!"'

As Madelyn will doubtlessly experience, her new arm is superior to many traditionally-made models. As the Limbitless team explained, these bionics are quite durable. 'Our arm solutions have been thoroughly tested to withstand expected stresses and drops from standard use. We do still advocate caution, especially regarding the finger segments as they are more delicate than the palm and arm.  Additionally, the electronics are not isolated so it is important to keep the bionics out of the water. That said, any broken pieces can be easily printed and replaced!'

That last comment will doubtlessly please her parents too. Traditional prosthetics for growing children need to be replaced once a year or so (or even more often), and quickly cost thousands of dollars. While this model still needs to be modified once a year, all electronic components can be recycled, while the fitting and plastic sections can be replaced for as little as $70.

Limbitless Solutions Foundations can perhaps best be seen as an engineering community devoted to bionic arms, much like E-nable is with simpler prosthetic models. In fact, their volunteers also work as E-nable creators to help amputees and children like Madelyn everywhere. In July this year, they created a 3D printed hand for 6-year-old Florida boy Alex Pring who was born without an arm. John Sparkman, one of the team's volunteers, called it very satisfying to help others like this. 'I don't know how to describe it. It's fulfilling I guess. Very satisfying to do something that's not in my job description, but I can help out to do something that's good for everyone involved.'

While their custom-made bionic arms aren't as widely available as E-nable creations yet, the LimbitLess team is currently working on expanding their services and teaming up with other student volunteers across the country. Right now, it takes them anywhere between 4 and 12 weeks to develop a custom-made, 3D printed bionic prosthetic, depending on the type of amputation. 'Additionally, we are currently developing a bionic arm with an elbow, and starting the development of bionic legs both of which will expand the amount of people we can assist.'

For more, check out this news report on Madelyn's exciting Thanksgiving:

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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