If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis.
It's more about the ability of prosthetic users being able to own the parts that has been implanted into their body than being able to modify it per se.
This way, prosthetic users cannot be barred from law or practicality to seek competent prosthetic specialists and professional that's not from the same company that makes the prosthesis. For example, if I have an retinal prosthesis from a company that went bankrupt ten years ago, I can still seek services from some other company, with a technical manual and blueprint in hand.
> If there's anything that need to be open source from day one, it's prosthesis.
My mom had her leg amputated 8 years ago, and seeing her go through the process of getting a prosthesis I couldn't agree more. Due to wear and tear, she has to get a new prosthesis approximately every 2 years. We're in the US, and with insurance it ends up costing $10,000. I'm unbelievably excited to see new and innovative approaches to tackle this problem.
Yeah, $10,000 out of pocket. I'm not sure my parents have done the math on total cost / how much is covered by insurance. Insurance companies do a great job of obfuscating billing.
This reminds me of an ultra low cost prosthetic arm that some friends of mine have been working on for a few years.[0] They originally set out to invent something very similar to this hand, but ended up designing and manufacturing low cost prosthetic arms for people in emerging and developing nations instead.
It would be fascinating if someone ended up making a fully open source prosthetic arm that could be totally customized to the user's specifications and then fabricated locally for minimal cost.
If anyone is interested in helping this project along there is an indiegogo page (below). I have no vested interest in this project, I simply think it's a great use of new tech with an altruistic bent.
This looks good. I don't have my left hand from birth and did try a prosthetic hand in the nineties. Then i found them to heavy and 'stupid' to use. This is something I definitely would like to try.
What I really love about this is (aside from the obvious awesomeness of more people getting the prosthetics that they need) is that it is a perfect usage fit for the level of output from consumer 3D printing devices like the Makerbot.
Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't it be a nice, if not the best, way to lower the prices of prosthetics to make them usable by non-handicapped people? for instance, Doctor Octopus arms could fit everyone.
That fiction is a bit far-fetched, but something similar and not so monstery-looking could improve everyone's lives. In fact, it could lessen the disability and, ideally, render it non-existent by making everyone equally able.
This (and actually bodily augmentation in general) seems like something that 3D printing is perfectly suited for. I see this sort of thing blowing up in the next 10 years.
It's more about the ability of prosthetic users being able to own the parts that has been implanted into their body than being able to modify it per se.
This way, prosthetic users cannot be barred from law or practicality to seek competent prosthetic specialists and professional that's not from the same company that makes the prosthesis. For example, if I have an retinal prosthesis from a company that went bankrupt ten years ago, I can still seek services from some other company, with a technical manual and blueprint in hand.