Open-Source 3D Printing in the Prosthetic Field—The Case of Upper Limb Prostheses: A Review

Abstract

Upper limb loss alters individuals’ private and professional life. Prosthetic devices are thus a solution to supply the missing upper limb segments. Nevertheless, commercial prostheses are often unaffordable, or inaccessible, to underprivileged individuals (e.g., no health insurance, low incomes, warzone). Among potential affordable alternatives, additive manufacturing, commonly “3D printing”, has been increasingly employed. This technology offers higher availability and accessibility, and can produce complex geometrical and highly customized products, which are essential features for prostheses manufacturing. Therefore, this study aims to portray an overview of reliable open-source upper limb 3D-printed prostheses currently available. We thus searched the scientific literature and online repositories hosting 3D-printable designs. We extracted data relative to mechanical and kinematic properties, 3D printing process and efficacy for each device. We found six studies implementing open-source 3DP upper limb prostheses and twenty-five open-source designs from online databases meeting selection criteria. Devices’ technical specifications were not systematically reported. In conclusion, though open-source 3D-printed upper limb prostheses can perform some functional tasks and grasps, and are widely employed to supply limb differences, further research is mandatory to validate their usage and to prove their clinical efficacy. More guidelines are required to unify contributions from private makers and non-governmental organizations with scientific groups.

O Contributo Dos Fatores Humanos No Design De Produtos Para a Reabilitação De Amputados Produzidos Por Fabricação Aditiva

“…Ainda assim, as vantagens significativas da aplicação da FA nos DP, devem ser mencionadas, que incluem a aparência, a facilidade da sua colocação, a redução de peso e a personalização o que promove a simetria entre os dois membros (Copeland et al, 2022). Mais ainda, quando o design de DP é centrado nas necessidades e características do utilizador, estes vão de encontro à sua anatomia, as forças aplicadas no dispositivo durante o seu uso são distribuídas mais uniformemente no membro residual o que resulta num dispositivo mais confortável, levando ainda a uma menor taxa de abandono e um aumento da sua qualidade de vida (Kate et al, 2017;Leite et al, 2019;Wendo et al, 2022).…”

Suitably Incorporated Hydrophobic, Redox-Active Drug in Poly Lactic Acid-Graphene Nanoplatelet Composite Generates 3D-Printed Medicinal Patch for Electrostimulatory Therapeutics

“…2 The success of this tool is entirely dependent on the intelligent design and proper selection of material to serve the purpose of application. Particularly in healthcare research, multiple applications like fabrication of highly patterned tissue engineering scaffolds, 3 prosthetic arms, 4 3D models of the anatomical replica of diseased tissues, 5 state-of-the-art surgical cutting and drilling guides, 6 and patient specific drug eluting stent, 7 have been reported where different types of polymeric materials were utilized to reach the particular goal. Tailor made 3D printed controlled drug delivery devices (DDD) have gained major attention in the recent past.…”

The Design of an Upper-Limb Prosthetic Finger Using Algorithms for Full Customization

“…Users of prosthetics have access to a wide range of customization tools. Although efforts have been made to improve this issue, the vast number of designs makes it harder for patients to choose a prosthetic [2]. As is the case of the prosthetic field, in the scientific research field there is a need for highly sophisticated and unique equipment.…”

“…This kind of work is similar to work done at the global community e-NABLE (3DUniverse LLC, Algonquin, USA). Although much work has been done in the field [2], more effort needs to be dedicated to improving the software used for customizing prosthetic devices. Furthermore, even if ongoing development of apps exists, the choice is limited and can be improved.…”