Civic News

Hopkins surgeon turns to 3D printing to make prosthetics for kids

Using a 3D printer his wife got him for Father's Day, Albert Chi is setting out to help children born with congenital hand loss.

Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore. (Photo courtesy of OLIN)

A Johns Hopkins Hospital surgeon is using 3D printing to make prosthetics for children missing hands, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Albert Chi used a printer his wife got him for Father’s Day and designs he found online to make a hand for about $20.

The 3-D printed prosthetics are particularly useful for children. They often grow out of prosthetics and can’t afford replacements every few months or years. The 3-D versions also can be lighter and easier to wield — and come in their favorite color.

Insurance also doesn’t always cover pediatric prosthetics, which cost up to $40,000, said Chi. And children can have trouble adjusting to them.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that four in 10,000 children are born with some congenital hand loss, or about 1,500 a year. That doesn’t include those suffering trauma.

Read the full story
A similar effort was covered by NPR in 2013.

Companies: Johns Hopkins University

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

Our services Preferred partners The journalism fund
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

High school seniors in Maryland are getting daily AI training 

Cannabis gets the spotlight at a DMV tech conference

This Week in Jobs: Unfreeze your career with these 30 open roles

Let’s vote (again), Baltimore: Meet your 2024 Technical.ly Award nominees

Technically Media