responses 3D printed request from clients
dEntremont, Andre RQHR
Description
Collection
Title:
responses 3D printed request from clients
Creator:
dEntremont, Andre RQHR
Date:
4/23/2015
Text:
Dear list,
My original post:
I am curious how many requests you have received from amputees for 3D printed hands? Would you ever consider this option if you had a request for this type of hand? I would be worried about liability and all the repair work that may be needed.
Andy d'Entremont C.P.(c)
Wascana Rehab Centre
Regina, SK
Here are the responses:
1) Hello,
Lets not forget that these have no ISO certification for quality assurance and reliability. Here in Iowa they ran a story about a Farmer making hands out of his pull barn and we are a licensure state!
2) Haven't had any requests, have you? However, we've talked about this quite a bit, as there's been all kinds of attention in the media about this. An Orthotist collegue in BC here is getting very concerned about 3Dprinted foot orthoses and other orthotics and the impact that will have on the industry. We have both been in contact with Dana Cooper at OPC about a marketing campaign reinforcing the clinical training, experience, know-how of certified practitioners in both fields with respect to this. The 3D printed stuff on TV and youtube is so inexpensive it makes us look like we are ripping off the public. They will compare the cost of a $50 3D lego hand to a $60,ooo myoelectric hand, like those are anywhere close to being in the same ball park. If you watch any of the video, you will see that the device is usually too large (like a John Bunion hand on a 6-year old girl (but I got to pick the colours!), doesn't fit, the function of the fingers is linked to elbow flexion and doesn't work, and / or the device isn't being used to actually hold or lift anything. They glorify the guy who help this poor kid out. There was a newspaper article in Victoria and Vancouver about a Victoria engineer who was printing hands for all these people in Guatemala. I actually contacted the editor, pointed out all the mis-information in the story, and informed him there was already a company making durable plastic functional split hooks combined with strap-on sockets, that have been distributed in Africa and elsewhere for years. I would love to see a design - make -fit video comparing a certified prosthesis vs. 3d printed one and splash that on the evening news.
So no, I would never consider this for my patient. Like I suggested, I could make one out of mechano or lego, paint it pretty colours and the result wouldn't be much different.
3) I'd be interested in the reponse that you get from the group!
4) I would be very interested in your answers since I am considering attempting 3D printing in our center.
My original post:
I am curious how many requests you have received from amputees for 3D printed hands? Would you ever consider this option if you had a request for this type of hand? I would be worried about liability and all the repair work that may be needed.
Andy d'Entremont C.P.(c)
Wascana Rehab Centre
Regina, SK
Here are the responses:
1) Hello,
Lets not forget that these have no ISO certification for quality assurance and reliability. Here in Iowa they ran a story about a Farmer making hands out of his pull barn and we are a licensure state!
2) Haven't had any requests, have you? However, we've talked about this quite a bit, as there's been all kinds of attention in the media about this. An Orthotist collegue in BC here is getting very concerned about 3Dprinted foot orthoses and other orthotics and the impact that will have on the industry. We have both been in contact with Dana Cooper at OPC about a marketing campaign reinforcing the clinical training, experience, know-how of certified practitioners in both fields with respect to this. The 3D printed stuff on TV and youtube is so inexpensive it makes us look like we are ripping off the public. They will compare the cost of a $50 3D lego hand to a $60,ooo myoelectric hand, like those are anywhere close to being in the same ball park. If you watch any of the video, you will see that the device is usually too large (like a John Bunion hand on a 6-year old girl (but I got to pick the colours!), doesn't fit, the function of the fingers is linked to elbow flexion and doesn't work, and / or the device isn't being used to actually hold or lift anything. They glorify the guy who help this poor kid out. There was a newspaper article in Victoria and Vancouver about a Victoria engineer who was printing hands for all these people in Guatemala. I actually contacted the editor, pointed out all the mis-information in the story, and informed him there was already a company making durable plastic functional split hooks combined with strap-on sockets, that have been distributed in Africa and elsewhere for years. I would love to see a design - make -fit video comparing a certified prosthesis vs. 3d printed one and splash that on the evening news.
So no, I would never consider this for my patient. Like I suggested, I could make one out of mechano or lego, paint it pretty colours and the result wouldn't be much different.
3) I'd be interested in the reponse that you get from the group!
4) I would be very interested in your answers since I am considering attempting 3D printing in our center.
Citation
dEntremont, Andre RQHR, “responses 3D printed request from clients,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/237220.
