Aussie tech to help amputees in Sierra Leone
West Africans stand to benefit from an innovative project that creates prosthetic limbs on 3D printers.
Initiated in the Brisbane suburb of West End, near Milton in Queensland, the project was a joint venture between The Latest Tricks and the Australasian Hellenic Education Progressive Association (AHEPA).
Prior to exporting the machines to Sierra Leone where operators will be able to print the prosthetics on demand, the creative team aims to streamline the process of calculating the length of limbs and inputting the necessary data.
AHEPA Chapter Thoron’s Nick Inglis said the technology would be sent to Sierra Leone, where there were many amputees.
However, he said it was first necessary to work out ways to fit the prosthetics, measure people’s stumps and train people to operate the printers.
A spokesman for The Latest Tricks, Ralf Muhlberger, said the use of 3D printed limbs dramatically reduced the cost compared to their traditionally-made counterparts.
The use of 3D printing for replacement limbs, he said, could cost as little as $50 to $100, where prosthetics were in the thousands.
Muhlberger said the cost issue was particularly helpful in instances where the 3D models were for children whose growth rate requires more frequent replacements.
The unique 3D printing services project will be funded by an AHEPA Queensland $10,000 grant and soon to be launched crowdfunded campaign. The 3D printers are destined for Paradise4 Kids.
Initiated in the Brisbane suburb of West End, near Milton in Queensland, the project was a joint venture between The Latest Tricks and the Australasian Hellenic Education Progressive Association (AHEPA).
Prior to exporting the machines to Sierra Leone where operators will be able to print the prosthetics on demand, the creative team aims to streamline the process of calculating the length of limbs and inputting the necessary data.
AHEPA Chapter Thoron’s Nick Inglis said the technology would be sent to Sierra Leone, where there were many amputees.
However, he said it was first necessary to work out ways to fit the prosthetics, measure people’s stumps and train people to operate the printers.
A spokesman for The Latest Tricks, Ralf Muhlberger, said the use of 3D printed limbs dramatically reduced the cost compared to their traditionally-made counterparts.
The use of 3D printing for replacement limbs, he said, could cost as little as $50 to $100, where prosthetics were in the thousands.
Muhlberger said the cost issue was particularly helpful in instances where the 3D models were for children whose growth rate requires more frequent replacements.
The unique 3D printing services project will be funded by an AHEPA Queensland $10,000 grant and soon to be launched crowdfunded campaign. The 3D printers are destined for Paradise4 Kids.