3-D printing via a new medical device called Robohand has helped another person in need of special medical treatment.
Liam, a five-year-old who does not have any fingers on his right hand because of a condition calledmyostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, was helped by the physical aid made by Richard van As who searched long and hard for a way to replace four fingers he lost while sawing as a carpenter in May 2011 CNN reported.
According to CNN, Robohand came out in 2012, and give users a cost-effective option for a mechanical prosthetic by utilizing the 3-D printing
This is done through additive manufacture and Polyactide, a thermoplastic material that prints substitute body parts including knuckles, and joints CNN reported.
"Within five minutes of getting it fitted, people can actually use it. It's anatomically driven by the wrist, elbow, or shoulder once fitted," Leonard Nel communications manager of the group told CNN. They all have their special moment."
Richard van As sawed off four of his fingers in May 2011 and awaited word in a Johannesburg Hospital to see if medical staff could re-attach them using stitches CNN reported Monday.
"I was in a position to see exactly what happens in the human hand. I got the basics of what it's all about and thought yeah, I'll make my own, Richard van As told CNN.
The medical alternative appears to have grown in the short amount of time it has been around.
"I know of only three countries that haven't had a hand yet. To make sure everyone can have access we essentially steal from the rich and give to the poor. Those who can afford it pay, and those that can't we find a way for someone to pay it for them," van As told CNN.
"We stopped counting at 200 hands that were made back in November 2013. But we can see there have now been over 143,000 downloads of the software. People all over the world are doing this without us. We don't even know of them all. It's all about paying it forward as people want to help," van As told CNN.
