Philanthropic 3D Printers that Change the World
Philanthropic 3D Printers that Change the World
  • By Leem Yoon-kyung (info@koreaittimes.com)
  • 승인 2016.02.03 12:15
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It seems the era of 3D printing is in full swing. 3D printing technology is turning our imagination into our reality, penetrating deep into our daily lives. If you think this cutting-edge technology is mainly the preserve of rich, developed countries, you are wrong.

3D printing is actually doing wonders in less fortunate parts of the world. 3D printing enables supplying low-cost medical supplies to developing nations and making prosthetic hands for the poor and lets the visually impaired “see” the world’s most famous paintings.

3D printers easily print whatever we can imagine; they are like a fairy tale magic wand used for casting magical spells.

Loubani’s Glia Project invented a stethoscope which costs only 30 cents to make.

Tarek Loubani, a Palestinian-Canadian doctor, has created a low-cost stethoscope using a 3D printer. Loubani’s Glia Project, initiated by Dr. Tarek Loubani, aims to provide medical supplies to impoverished places like Gaza.

While Dr. Tarek Loubani was helping out at Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza City's main hospital, back in 2012, he felt frustrated by the lack of basic medical devices such as a stethoscope in the isolated Palestinian territory.

With very few stethoscopes available, doctors had to resort to a primitive method: putting their ears directly on the patient's chest to hear their heartbeats. Having witnessed such a deplorable sight, Dr. Tarek Loubani started to raise a fund to make low-cost medical supplies.

When Loubani’s Glia Project raised 10,000 euros, he started to explore ways to produce as many low-cost but high-quality stethoscopes as possible. The answer was 3D printing.

After 6 months of researching, designing and testing in Gaza, he succeeded in making a high-quality stethoscope (which could compare with leading models (priced at 200-300 dollars) on the market) at a cost of 30 cents.

As of now, Dr. Tarek Loubani is in the process of getting the Medical Device Establishment Licence from Health Canada for the stethoscope.

See Loubani's Glia project at https://youtu.be/CKZqio32iaQ

The Open Hand Project aims to make robotic prosthetic hands more accessible to amputees.

The Open Hand Project, led by UK-based Open Bionics, is an open-source initiative for the development of affordable, light-weight, modular robotic hands and myo-electric prosthetic devices.

Open Bionics has announced the next generation of bionic hands, ones inspired by kids’ favorite characters, from the Superman hand and the Iron Man hand to the Star Wars lightsaber hand and the Snowflake hand (inspired by Queen Elsa from Disney’s Frozen).

Open Bionics’ project of producing Disney-themed bionic hands for kids is supported by the Disney Accelerator program, though which 120,000 dollars was provided.

The Open Hand Project aims to produce low-cost prosthetic hands using a 3D printer. Superhero-themed prosthetic hands come with controllable fingers (equipped with feedback sensors), so owners can pick up objects.

The Iron Man hand, with LEDs mounted in its surface, has a vibration motor, so it can simulate firing a repulsor blast. If the child fires a rocket, the hand shudders like a recoiling weapon. The Spiderman hand comes with a web shooter. It typically takes a month to make a prosthetic hand. The Open Hand Project gets everything from design work to production done in a week.‘
The ultimate goal of the Open Hand Project is to help disabled children feel confident about themselves.

See Open Hand Project at https://youtu.be/gRZeC7zLYlQ

Unseen Art project lets blind people “see” masterpieces like The Mona Lisa.

The Unseen Art Project, led by Marc Dillon (a software programmer from Helsinki, Finland) is an initiative to make art more accessible and inclusive by using 3D printing technology to create replicas of various masterpieces that can be touched to be ‘seen’. The Unseen Art Project has recently made a 3D rendering of 'The Mona Lisa' to make the masterpiece touchable.

Above all, the Unseen Art Project has made the Mona Lisa downloadable in 3D for free, so anyone with a 3D printer can print it out.

In the long term, the project hopes to raise enough money and awareness to create an online gallery of paintings that anyone with a 3D printer can then print out. The Unseen Art Project is currently working on ways to provide people with access to 3D printing at libraries and schools around the world.

See Unseen Art project at https://youtu.be/GOF4Ipvjp8A


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