yes you CAN - prosthetic terminal device

Last crawled date: 1 year, 11 months ago

About the design concept:
The "yes you CAN" prosthetic terminal device is designed with a neutral and minimalistic concept, suitable for everyday usage, regardless of the gender of the user. The shape is modeled based on photos of a real hand, which makes it appear antromorphic and discrete. Therefore, it can assist the user at any occasion for everyday purposes as well as festive events.
Although aesthetics varies across cultures, the minimalistic design combines functionality with aesthetic, which follows the Scandinavian tradition in product design. A timeless and anthropomorphic concept strongly enables universal applicability, meaning it easily fits in and can help disabled people across cultures.

Technical considerations:
The "yes you CAN" - terminal hand is of the voluntarily close (VO) type, and the design is inspired by the “K1-hand” developed by Evan Kuester. The device is body powered and flexion of the fingers (to grab an object) is driven by abduction of the shoulder, which pulls a wire. The wire from the prosthetic arm connects to strings, which run through in-built tracts inside the hand, and terminates below the thumb. Extension of the fingers occurs automatically by using rubber bands in the pipelines on the backside of the hand (see illustrations in “technical details”).

To connect the finger parts with the hinges, cut a piece of 3D filaments with the diameter 1.75 or 2.0 mm. The piece of filament can be glued or melted to complete the hinges. Alternatively, use a nylon stick Ø2,0 mm or screws.
It is recommended to print the components for the fingers with 50-100 micron layers with 100% fill. The palm can be printed with less fill, e.g. 70%.