Sinterit exoskeleton arm
The exoskeleton arm developed with the help of the Sinterit Lisa SLS platform and Autodesk's Fusion 360 software.
Sinterit, a developer of professional selective laser sintering 3D printers, has created an exoskeleton arm for disabled children in collaboration with a 3D designer using its Sinterit Lisa platform.
Bartłomiej Gaczorek fielded a call from a mother of a young boy suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic neuromuscular disease which restricts the movement of legs, arms and hands without specialised external supportive devices. The child, just three-years-old, had inherited the condition and thus the problems with nerves usually responsible for muscle functions. His mother recognised Gaczorek’s experience in 3D printing design, and hoped he could find an adequate solution. 3D printed, low-budget prosthetics had been tested but none were deemed suitable for the youngster.
Gaczorek adjudged the design and engineering of these prosthetics to be good enough, but had a few improvements in mind, namely a change of 3D printing technology. After consulting with the children’s parents, doctors and physiotherapists on each stage of the development, Gaczorek pressed ahead with his plan to use SLS 3D printing. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), thanks to its precision printing capabilities, freedom of form, and lightweighted and strong materials, opens up more possibilities than other types of 3D printing, per Gaczorek.
Sinterit exoskeleton arm
Those benefits can be exploited at every stage of a 3D printing process, from design right through to finished part. Designing the tailor-made exoskeleton arm independently on Autodesk’s Fusion 360 – the same software used here – Gaczorek and Sinterit came together as the former embarked on the prototyping on the bionic arm.
Printing the necessary parts of the arm on the Sinterit Lisa, the arm works perfectly. The Fusion 360 software had enabled Gaczorek to analyse complex movements, and optimise shapes. Printing this file via the Sinterit Lisa platform, time in the design, testing and development stages of the process all saw significant reductions. But more important than that, the SLS-printed version of the arm brings greater comfort to the wearer, something at the top of Gaczorek and Sinterit’s priorities.
“I decided to print main elements in SLS technology, because it has complex internal structure,” explained Gaczorek. “[A] very important factor for me is also the comfort of [the] user which is much better with SLS/ SLA than with FDM technology. The cost of Sinterit Lisa SLS printing is already very low compared to other industrial machines and the quality is perfect – that’s why I chose that printer.”
The company and Gaczorek are set to continue their collaboration and provide similar exoskeleton arms for three SMA-suffering children in Poland.
