Israeli 3D printing company Haifa 3D is providing patient-specific 3D-printed bionic limbs to individuals missing a hand or arm, according to a 25 August report from ISRAEL21c.
The company offers 3D-printed prosthetics that children and adults can customize with colors representing their favorite superhero or sports team. The initial 3D-printed parts are based on medical images of the individuals and subsequently adjusted for proper fit.
Haifa 3D additionally offers 3D-printed hand accessories designed to allow users to perform certain tasks, from playing a guitar to riding a bicycle. Most of the children have requested 3D-printed bionic hands that appear robotic, rather than prosthetics that appear most like a typical human hand.
"The greatest effect of this [3D-printed bionic] hand is psychological," Haifa founder Yacov Malinovich, PhD, said in a statement. "These children are often at the bottom of the social pecking order. And suddenly they have a superhero hand and it lifts them upward."
The organization works in collaboration with researchers from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
