January 2010 Blog Posts (10)

What brings me here

My name is Philip Sanford. I am a 35 year old male from Hillsboro,Tx. I am a member of the Amputee Coalition Of America. (ACA) On August 23,2008 my then pregnant wife and I were involved in a motor vehicle accident. I was trapped in the vehicle which was engulfed in flames. My wife escaped with 3rd degree burns to about 25 percent of her body. I suffered 4th degree burns to my limbs, resulting in the amputation of both my legs above the knee. 6 weeks later I was released from Parkland Hospital… Continue

Added by Philip on January 31, 2010 at 3:56pm — 2 Comments

Otto Bock batteries - you can do better than that

http://www.swisswuff.ch/tech/?p=270

I just got done setting up my test arm socket. Among other factors electricity was a consideration.

Here is what a ~700 USD Otto Bock rechargeable battery looks like:

Here is what that plastic contains:

These are rather cheap… Continue

Added by Wolf Schweitzer on January 25, 2010 at 7:52am — 4 Comments

Progress on Lego Hand instructions

The step by step instructions to create a lego hand are still under development. Here is a snapshot of where I'm currently at. I have modelled the sub-assemblies in LDraw, and uploaded the images to Flickr. (Can anyone recommend a photo site that will display the comments as part of the slideshow? Or know of an easy way to import 100+ images into a document?) Joining the sub-assemblies is still underway. I have not yet tested these instructions using actual legos. (I plan to order them soon.)… Continue

Added by Tonya Murray on January 24, 2010 at 10:00am — 3 Comments

3D Design - Hand Assy

Hello Guys:

This is Esteban Alvarez 3D Mechanical Design coordinator for the Open Prothetics Project, today I have finished the assembly, as you can see of the attached pictures.

Eventually I'll upload the files for sharing with every member, today I will upload IGES format. If you need a particular 3D format please don't hesitate to ask me to the next email: esteban_arturo@hotmail.com…

Continue

Added by Esteban Alvarez Serrano on January 22, 2010 at 4:38am — 5 Comments

The Six Million Dollar Meme

Regarding Paul Hochman's recent Fast Company article on prosthetics, as both a consumer of prosthetic arms and an engineer working on the most ambitious prosthetic arm project in history, I have some significant problems with his portrayal of the clinical state of the art. The basic premise raised in the article, that we're anywhere close to "Super Human Prostheses You'll Envy" is laughable to… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on January 21, 2010 at 2:00pm — 9 Comments

My Magazine Article

This article was published in an Australian magazine. Thought it may have been of interest to others.

Added by Mark Lesek on January 19, 2010 at 11:14pm — 4 Comments

Something to Ponder

Hi Jon, Thank you for inviting me and letting me know about this site and I'm looking forward to helping others.

Let me introduce myself, I am a fifty three year old dominant right above elbow, extremely short amputee. Six years ago when I lost my arm I feared the worst and it has been hard. Murphy’s Law dictates these things will happen at the worst possible time. My business nearly went broke, the small town syndrome, and the vultures were circling. I checked out of hospital and went… Continue

Added by Mark Lesek on January 18, 2010 at 2:37am — No Comments

Pitch an OPP Project for a Television Pilot

When we incorporated, we imagined that our ideas for open design mattered to many more markets than just amputees, which is why we're the Shared Design Alliance. As one way of tackling problems like ours, I've proposed an open source TV design show for a new Changemakers competition.

Called The 90 Per Cent Solution, the show would use the power of the crowd to… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on January 16, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments

First Australian Osseointegrated Arm Amputee

Hi All,

I’m not sure if you are aware of some of my latest projects. One of them is to mould the left arm and hand of interested amputees. Any prosthetist or art and sculpture student can do this with strips of moulding plaster on your left arm, upper and lower with elbow bent at ninety degrees without hand at this stage. This female mould in two halves is taken off the arm, put back together temporarily and casting plaster… Continue

Added by Mark Lesek on January 15, 2010 at 2:40am — 1 Comment

Calling all LEGO Hand enthusiasts!

The Open Prosthetics Project Ning site has 188 members, 129 of whom expressed interest in "helping with projects". I'm sure a significant number of you are interested in the LEGO Hand, as I am, but found it wasn't obvious how to contribute. I've decided to take a stab at getting a group of us talking and working together on the hand.

Here's where I suggest we start:

1. Share info to help each other build replicas of John Bergmann's original hand

2. Organize an effort to… Continue

Added by Tonya Murray on January 5, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments