Ten guidelines for the design of non-assembly mechanisms: The case of 3D-printed prosthetic hands

Cuellar Lopez, J.S.; Smit, G.; Zadpoor, A.A.; Breedveld, P.

doi:10.1177/0954411918794734

Ten guidelines for the design of non-assembly mechanisms

Title

Ten guidelines for the design of non-assembly mechanisms: The case of 3D-printed prosthetic hands

Author

Cuellar Lopez, J.S. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)
Smit, G. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)
Zadpoor, A.A. (TU Delft Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanics)
Breedveld, P. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)

Date

2018

Abstract

In developing countries, prosthetic workshops are limited, difficult to reach, or even non-existent. Especially, fabrication of active, multi-articulated, and personalized hand prosthetic devices is often seen as a time-consuming and demanding process. An active prosthetic hand made through the fused deposition modelling technology and fully assembled right after the end of the 3D printing process will increase accessibility of prosthetic devices by reducing or bypassing the current manufacturing and post-processing steps. In this study, an approach for producing active hand prosthesis that could be fabricated fully assembled by fused deposition modelling technology is developed. By presenting a successful case of non-assembly 3D printing, this article defines a list of design considerations that should be followed in order to achieve fully functional non-assembly devices. Ten design considerations for additive manufacturing of non-assembly mechanisms have been proposed and a design case has been successfully addressed resulting in a fully functional prosthetic hand. The hand prosthesis can be 3D printed with an inexpensive fused deposition modelling machine and is capable of performing different types of grasping. The activation force required to start a pinch grasp, the energy required for closing, and the overall mass are significantly lower than body-powered commercial prosthetic hands. The results suggest that this non-assembly design may be a good alternative for amputees in developing countries.

Subject

Additive manufacturing
biomechanical testing/analysis
limb prosthetics
mechanical design
non-assembly design

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0bdd2522-24f4-47ce-82c6-45db98003bae

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/0954411918794734

ISSN

0954-4119

Source

Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Proceedings. Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 232 (9), 962-971

Part of collection

Institutional Repository