TU Delft – Accessible Prosthetics through 3D Printing and a Smartphone App

This research project is part of the Delft Global Initiative program: the portal and booster of Science and Technology for Global Development at TU Delft. Aim of the program is to contribute to sustainable solutions for global societal challenges, through problem-oriented interdisciplinary technical research in close cooperation with partners in the developing world, to meaningfully improve lives of people living in poverty.

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Combining modern advances in smartphone technology with the seemingly unlimited possibilities of 3D-printing, in this project we aim to create easy access to prosthetics for amputees in Third World countries. We will develop an advanced, free IOS / Android app that scans the amputee with a smartphone camera and completely automates the complex prosthetic design process ending in design drawings for a 3D-printer that manufactures a well-fitting prostheses. In this project we will not only generate new, fundamental knowledge on automatic designing and manufacturing, we will also collaborate with a number of charity organizations to stimulate local initiatives in 3D printing and to optimize the prosthetic supply chain.

Photo: Example of 3D-printed prostheses from Mich Ebelings “Not Impossible Project” in Sudan.

More information: http://globalstories.tudelft.nl/story/paul-breedveld/