3D printed hands are giving Syrian children a second chance | Hacker News Reader

3D printed hands are giving Syrian children a second chance

waya.media

73 pointsgamalhelmy20 comments

And with a sub $200 printer.

I’ve seen professional prostheses made on $150k industrial printers, and they’re much nicer of course and probably more durable, but this may be one of the cheapest medical devices making the biggest difference for these kids.

Printer is open source: https://github.com/Creality3DPrinting/Ender-3

I recently picked up an Ender 3 pro from my local Micro Center for $209. Im absolutely blown away by how far these printers have some in 5 years.

$3,000 for the hand - according to the article, “Imported prostheses cost 30 to 40 thousand dollars, while we have reduced this price by around 90%.”

Instead try FREE:

https://www.ln4handproject.org/impact

https://www.ln4handproject.org/become-a-partner-organization

Outside of the atrocities related to the Syrian confict, the highlight of this story is really the affect that making expensive industrial grade technology like 3D printing accessible to a wider audience can have on how things are made.

I've seen similar stories from other 3D printing companies like Formlabs on healthcare related innovation that's been enabled by more accessible digital fabrication technology:

https://formlabs.com/blog/father-helps-son-with-cerebral-pal... and https://formlabs.com/blog/shirley-technique-facial-prosthesi...

Does anyone have an interview with a person who has used a 3D Printed Prosthetic for a month or more?

Proof someone has successfully added a 3D Printed Prosthetic to their life.

[edit] And not internal, external Prosthetic's

[edit 2] Here's one. 10.1097/MD.0000000000009426

3 months in a success but "Some fingers, knuckles, and cables were replaced twice due to the daily wear and tear."

That only in 3 months. Interested in other stories.

> Does anyone have an interview with a person who has used a 3D Printed Prosthetic for a month or more?

1) One of the Iraq embedded journalists had his hand blown off removing a sticky bomb thrown into their vehicle.

He tried an advanced prosthetic (not printed) but changed to a hook for strength and reliability.

2) It's important to request a shredded limb be removed since once the nerves and blood supply are reattached, Western doctors often won't amputate it in favor of a prosthetic. So you end with a limb that may not work, or be in chronic pain.

3) An Indian doctor has success with aluminum prosthetics. Cheap, strong, waterproof. There's a documentary.

Finally a company that is actually making the world a better place.

Now let’s end the blockade/harsh sanctions on Syria so that the country can recover.

The atrocities are ongoing and the Syrian regime has slaughtered hundreds of thousands and displaced millions with the help of Russia and the support of Iran. The insanity needs to be stopped, then you can talk about recovery.

Idlib, which is basically a huge refugee camp for millions that were forced out our fled the rest of the country, was bombed to hell over the last three days; there are at least 700,000 refugees that are now yet again displaced. In just three days.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51317720

Idlib is the last refuge of ISIS and their ilk. Yes they’re defending their country from the worst Islamic dictatorship, which tpnewrly took over. I don’t blame them. The US also flattened Mosul and killed over 1500 people there in airstrikes, fighting ISIS.

Nobody has a good record in the war. But this insistence that Assad has to go, is entirely politically motivated. He’s a hideous dictator yes, but Sisi of Egypt is much worse. Yet he’s treated with respect.

Now Syria is trying to rebuild their country and reunify, we should help them and not start any more fires there.

Mosul and Idlib aren’t really comparable, tbh.

Of all the horrible things Daesh has done, collectively staining the name of anyone rebelling against the Assad regime (except perhaps for the Kurdish fighters who’ve kept their own identity) and allowing (literally) millions of refugees and freedom fighters to be labeled ISIL members or sympathizers that are acceptable collateral has to be the worst.

Why aren't they comparable? It's funny for me to see news coverage of all the atrocities Russia commits there, but none of the US in Idlib.

In Brazil there is Mão3D (3D hand), an university project which helps kids with 3D printed prostheses: https://mao3d.wordpress.com/

They are currently seeking funding with a crowdfunding platform kickante: https://www.kickante.com.br/campanhas/uma-mao-literalmente-m...

Amazing how was take so many things for granted, kudos to the founder of Smart Hand.

The motherfuckers that start these wars should be forced to look at images like these 24/7.

They don't really care...it's show-biz for them. Now considering that most of them are elected you have to blame yourself as well.

If it were "only" entertainment. It's worse than that -- it's "business!" One of the more insightful things I've learned in my lifetime can be paraphrased like so: "There is just as much money to be made in tearing down a civilization as in building one up. But the former is much easier, faster, and more reliable." Find those (people/companies/governments/religions) who increase wealth and/or power as a result of this, and you will find the culprits.

> There is just as much money to be made in tearing down a civilization as in building one up.

Do you think Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates agree with this statement?

Why wouldn't they?

Blaming yourself only works if there isn't a power asymmetry.

We probably don't elect politicians because they say "we will enable the redistribution of wealth to our friends and families via allowing a war", or some such.

Sure, there's probably a whole lot more each of us could be doing about any particular large-scale issue. I feel okay with many of these issues being fairly well down on my list of priorities. Beating myself up about this or that particular issue is likely to have very little effect.

I'd suggest it's important that we allow each other to pick n choose which issues we focus on.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com