Thumb Prosthesis

I have designed and printed an articulating thumb for a friend who lost his in a shotgun accident. For the past year, I have been consistently printing and improving prostheses designs for him. This sort of unique injury requires a bespoke solution that I was excited to work on with the 3D printer I designed and built.

So far, I have designed 2 new thumb prostheses, rigid and articulating. Both designs need to incorporate support for his index finger and sufficient compression of his palm.

• The rigid thumb design is supportive and flexible enough to deform to accommodate finger movement.

• The articulating thumb, while still in the early stages of development, is controlled via signals in the forearm associated with attempting to grasp an item. The processing is carried out by an Arduino. The thumb is articulated by a cord attached to a tiny lead screw. All of the electronics fit in a box the size of a bar of chocolate, positioned on my friend's forearm.

Testing the electronics during the early prototyping phase of the project.