University of Cincinnati students taking biomedical engineering built artificial hands for children with missing hands. They used a 3-D printer to print three-dimensional hands made of plastic material.
The University of Cincinnati students of biomedical engineering named their group "Enable UC." The moniker was inspired by a global organization called e-Nable. This organization has been building artificial hands for children who lost their own using 3-D printer. The hands were printed in three-dimensions. There are e-Nable chapters in most countries around the world that are ready to give children new hands, according to Fox15.
These children may have lost their hands in an accident. A few came from countries where there was fighting.
Artificial hands made by University of Cincinnati students are not as good as real prosthetics. However, they had made children experience using both hands while at play or at work.
"Enable UC" had built 42 pieces of prosthetic hands since it was founded in 2015. The students built the artificial hands at the University of Cincinnati laboratory. It took a week for the 3-D printer to complete a three-dimensional limb.
The biomedical students did not measure the patient's hands. Instead, they searched for hand samples from the e-Nable website. The printer received the instructions and built the hands using plastic materials. Once a design was chosen, the operator hit a button and the s-D Printer started its work. The hands could be customized to the patients' satisfaction, according to Idaho Statesman
Several universities did the same. They used 3-D printer to give back to the children the hands that they lost. Helping these children has become part of the mission of the biomedical engineering students of the University of Cincinnati.
Children and adults who received prosthetic hands made using 3-D printer were given a chance to do more tasks using their artificial hands. They got to experience the life of a person with complete limbs.
