This is the prosthetic finger system from Point Designs. I haven’t seen that one before. Unlike Naked Prosthetics’ fingers, Point Designs’ seem to address mainly the need of people with MCP joint-level or ray amputations of the hand. So kind of the same demographic as Ian Davis’s fabulous prosthetic hand system, but much less complex.
They use a simple ratcheting mechanism that’s designed to be washable, almost maintenance-free and able to withstand 150 lbs of pulling force:
Point Designs supplies an “impression kit” - basically a pot of quick-cure 2-part latex - to take a print of your residual hand and send it to them for fabrication of the socket. So presumably, if you have a handy friend to help your out, you don’t need to visit a prosthesist and you can do it at home, potentially saving you money:
Finally, Point Designs offers free fingertip pads for the lifetime of the prosthesis and a 24-month warranty that covers manufacturing defects.
Not too surprisingly, I was unable to find any pricing information.
More worryingly, I was also unable to find any independent review or material apart from the company’s own or their distributors’. So ultimately, I have no idea what those fingers are worth.
But they seem really cool so I figured I’d share.
Is this something I could help people access? I have a high end 3d printer.
You totally should hook up with Ian Davis. He’s trying to bring his mechanical hand to market as a kit and he’s been at it for years. If you have a metal 3D printer, I’m sure he’d love to work with you.
I have a high-end printer capable of using carbon fiber filament, though I bet PETG would be more than strong enough.
Never underestimate an amputee’s ability to wear off and break any prosthesis 🙂 Nothing is strong enough to resist real life, heavy use multiple hours a day. Amputees don’t have the time or luxury to baby their prostheses: they need them to function and live an ordinary life. Prostheses get a real beating and making them last is a properly difficult engineering challenge.
I mean, that absolutely makes sense.
I was totally expecting her to do some crazy trick shot on the billiards table rather than light a lighter.
Anyway it’s nice to see technology used for non-depressing things.
It’s the mundane everyday things you can’t do anymore that you miss the most.
true, I was just distracted by the ever present table. Of course a billiards table also takes up a lot of space and it would be hard not to have it in the camera frame.
It is the depressing things done with technology, that necessitate the non depressing things. Prosthetics like that likely cost 100x the price from a prosthetics company, and of course insurance companies will say it isn’t medically necessary
