Examinando por Tema "3-D printing"
  • Publicación
    A parametric 3D-printed body-powered hand prosthesis based on the four-bar linkage mechanism
    (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2018)
    Bustamante M.
    ;
    Vega-Centeno R.
    ;
    Sánchez M.
    ;
    Mio R.
    The widespread of 3D-printing technology has resulted in the appearance of many open-source prosthetic hand models, especially for partial hand amputations. However, most of these designs are not editable and while some are parametric to some degree, customization for every user is limited to scaling the size of a base design. As consequence, most prostheses fail to closely match the user specific anthropometry and have poor aesthetics, which could result in abandonment of the device. Furthermore, achieving a high degree of customization could be a time-consuming task and requires previous knowledge of CAD design. This work presents a prosthetic hand easy to customize by changing parametric dimensions of the finger phalanges and palm on an Excel sheet. Additionally, the design tackles common issues from previous 3D-printed body-powered prosthetic hands by incorporating new features such as the use of linkages instead of cables as finger flexors and a new cable-adjusting system which requires no additional tools and makes the tensioning of finger tendons easier and quicker.
  • Publicación
    Mechanical testing methods for body-powered upper-limb prostheses: A review
    (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2018)
    Mio R.
    ;
    Sánchez M.
    ;
    Valverde Q.
    New manufacturing and rapid prototyping technologies have fueled the creation of affordable and easy to replicate upper-limb prostheses. In this matter, many types and designs of 3D-printed upper-limb prostheses have been created over the last years. However, there is no consensus in the testing methodology for these devices regarding their mechanical capabilities and the comparisons authors can make are limited to their own metrics, which could be considered as a subjective approach. In order to tackle this issue, this work revises the existing methods for testing both the mechanical resistance and the mechanical performance or efficiency of upper-limb prostheses; specifically, the ones that are relevant for 3D-printed body-powered prostheses. Then, the adaptations needed to apply these methods to 3D-printed prostheses are discussed. Finally, recommendations are given for prosthetists and researchers in order to execute reliable tests that can be compared across different hand prosthesis designs.