3D Printing Creates Comfortable, Affordable, and Super Cool Prosthetic limbs

Losing a limb sucks, and for a lot of people, finding a comfortable prosthetic can be almost as bad. Now, MIT has come up with a solution called FitSocket. It uses a combination of 3d Scanning and 3D printing to create customized limbs that are fit to the individual. William Root, one of the 3D designers on the project said that this new method can help match up the fit on limbs to within fractions of a millimeter.

He also went on to say:

Traditional prosthetics require a large amount of specialized labor. And, by their nature, they both look and feel very mechanical and robotic. This often “negatively affects the appearance and psychological well-being of the amputees who need them. Creating an artificial limb that better suits the personality of the person who’ll be wearing it can make an enormous difference to the amputee’s self confidence and comfort.”

After the scan is complete and a 3d Model of the leg has been made, it is then hollowed out, reducing weight significantly as well as being customized to the look preferred by the wearer. Then, the model is printed out of titanium which is both light and extremely durable.

Source: Inhabitat