Patient Self-Assessment of 3D Printed Upper-Extremity Prosthetics

摘要

With 40 million amputees living in poor countries with limited access to health care, there is a significant need for novel prosthetic solutions. This paper presents our preliminary results to develop sustainable prostheses for five upper-extremity amputee patients in Colombia, South America. We utilized a patient-centric methodology, engaging patients at every stage in an effort to increase their satisfaction with their prosthetic and to assess clinical usefulness. We identified patient-specific criteria and compared existing open source hardware systems using the Design Thinking methodology. Finally, we present these data to further the development of myoelectric prosthetics as part of cyber-physical systems.