Knack
Affordable Personalized Prosthetic Arm
2022
Disciplines:
Industrial Design, Healthcare, Mechanical Engineering
Industrial Design, Healthcare, Mechanical Engineering
Team:
David Edquilang - arm, harness, mechanical optimization, visualization
David Edquilang - arm, harness, mechanical optimization, visualization
Niell Gorman - hand, electronics
Jeff Feng - wrist, design direction
Issue: The high price of prosthetic arms ($5,000 - $100,000) is impossible for many amputees to afford. Commercially available prosthetic arms also have shortcomings in their comfort and appearance, which negatively affects usability and users' self-esteem.
Design: An affordable personalized prosthetic arm that achieves high functionality through novel simplified mechanisms and hybrid articulation of the prosthesis; combining mechanical body power to bend the elbow and motorized actuation of the hand.
The Patient
Understanding the patient and how he needs to use his arm allowed us to personalize the prosthesis and maximize its functionality.
Anatomical Basis
Taking measurements and a 3D scan of the patient allowed me to tailor fit the prosthesis to his body while CAD modeling.
Modeling
Surfacing of the arm was SubD modeled in VR using Gravity Sketch then imported into SolidWorks to fully realize the design.
User Testing
Testing the first two iterations of the prosthetic arm informed us of fit, usability concerns, and mechanical optimizations.
Final Iteration
The third and final iteration of the arm featured full realization of the design.
The arm was fully functional and the patient was proud to be able to move and pick up objects again.
