{"id":103849,"date":"2020-11-03T12:07:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T09:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/tunisian-startup-3-d-prints-solar-powered-bionic-hands\/"},"modified":"2020-11-03T12:07:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T09:07:10","slug":"tunisian-startup-3-d-prints-solar-powered-bionic-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tunisian-startup-3-d-prints-solar-powered-bionic-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"#Tunisian startup 3-D prints solar-powered bionic hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Tunisian startup 3-D prints solar-powered bionic hands<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"Tunisian
\n Tunisian startup Cure Bionics are developing a prototype of an artificial hand, which they hope will be more affordable to help amputees and other disabled people
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A Tunisian startup is developing a 3-D-printed bionic hand, hoping the affordable and solar-powered prosthetic will help amputees and other disabled people across Africa.<\/p>\n

Unlike traditional devices, the artificial hand can be customised for children and youths, who otherwise require an expensive series<\/a> of resized models as they grow up.<\/p>\n

The company Cure Bionics also has plans to develop a video game<\/a>-like virtual reality system that helps youngsters learn how to use the artificial hand through physical therapy.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Dhaouafi, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Cure Bionics, designed his first prototype while still an engineering student in his home city Sousse.<\/p>\n

“One team member had a cousin who was born without a hand and whose parents couldn’t afford a prosthesis, especially as she was still growing up,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So we decided to design a hand.”<\/p>\n

Dhaouafi launched his start-up in 2017 from his parents’ home, at a time when many of his classmates chose to move abroad seeking higher salaries and international experience.<\/p>\n

“It was like positive revenge,” he told AFP. “I wanted to prove I could do it. I also want to leave a legacy, to change people’s lives.”<\/p>\n

Dhaouafi pointed to hurdles in Tunisia, where it can be hard or impossible to order parts via large online sales sites. There is a lack of funding and, he said, “we lack visionaries within the state”.<\/p>\n

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\n The bionic hand is made of Lego-like parts that can be replaced if damaged or to match a child’s physical growth
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But by pooling money raised through sponsored competitions and seed investment from a US company, he was able to recruit four young engineers.<\/p>\n

They are now fine-tuning designs, writing code and testing the artificial hand.<\/p>\n

‘Climb like Spiderman’<\/b><\/p>\n

The device works with sensors attached to the arm that detect muscle movement, and AI-assisted software that interprets them to transmit instructions to the digits.<\/p>\n

The hand itself has a wrist that can turn sideways, a mechanical thumb and fingers that bend at the joints in response to the electronic impulses.
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To teach youngsters how to use them, Cure has been working on a virtual-reality headset that “gamifies” the physical therapy process.<\/p>\n

“Currently, for rehabilitation, children are asked to pretend to open a jar, for example, with the hand they no longer have,” said Dhaouafi.<\/p>\n

“It takes time to succeed in activating the muscles this way. It’s not intuitive, and it’s very boring.”<\/p>\n

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\"Tunisian
\n Tunisian engineer Mohamed Dhaouafi, who launched his start-up in 2017 from his parents’ home, holds a prototype of an artificial hand
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In Cure’s version, the engineer said: “We get them to climb up buildings like Spiderman, with a game score to motivate them, and the doctor can follow up online from a distance”.<\/p>\n

3-D printing meanwhile makes it possible to personalise the prosthesis like a fashion accessory or “a superhero’s outfit”, said Dhaouafi.<\/p>\n

Cure hopes to market its first bionic hands within a few months, first in Tunisia and then elsewhere in Africa, where more than three-quarters of people in need have no access to them, according to the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n

“The aim is to be accessible financially but also geographically,” said Dhaouafi.<\/p>\n

The envisaged price of around $2,000 to $3,000 is substantial, but a fraction of the cost of bionic prostheses currently imported from Europe.<\/p>\n

‘Leapfrog technology<\/a>’<\/b><\/p>\n

Cure also aims to manufacture as close as possible to the end users, with local technicians measuring the patients and then printing individually fitted devices.<\/p>\n

“An imported prosthesis today means weeks or even months of waiting when you buy it, and again with each repair,” the inventor said.<\/p>\n

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\"Tunisian
\n Tunisian engineers test a prototype of an artificial hand, which they hope will be produced at a lower price than existing prostheses
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The bionic hand is made of Lego-like parts that can be replaced if damaged or to match a child’s physical growth.<\/p>\n

It can also be solar-powered via a photovoltaic charger for use in regions without a reliable electricity supply.<\/p>\n

The 3-D printing of rudimentary prostheses started about a decade ago and is becoming standard.<\/p>\n

It is not a magic solution because specialised medical know-how is still crucial, said Jerry Evans, who heads Nia Technologies, a Canadian non-commercial organisation that helps African hospitals manufacture 3-D-printed lower limbs.<\/p>\n

“3-D printing is still in its early stages,” he said, “but it is a major game changer in the field of prosthetics and orthotics.”<\/p>\n

“Developing countries will probably leapfrog to these technologies because the cost is much lower.”\n <\/p>\n\n

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Robotics startup launches first medically approved 3-D printed bionic arms<\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Tunisian startup 3-D prints solar-powered bionic hands (2020, November 3)
\n retrieved 3 November 2020
\n from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news<\/a>\/2020-11-tunisian-startup-d-solar-powered-bionic.html<\/p>\n

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