Knack
Affordable Personalized Prosthetic Arm
2022
Disciplines:
Industrial Design, Healthcare, Mechanical Engineering
Team:
David Edquilang - arm, harness, mechanical optimization, visualization
Niell Gorman - hand, electronics
Jeff Feng - wrist, design direction
The high price of prosthetic arms ($5,000 - $100,000) is impossible for many amputees to afford. Commercially available prosthetic arms also have shortcomings in their comfort and appearance, which negatively affects usability and users' self-esteem.
Issue:
An affordable personalized prosthetic arm that achieves high functionality through novel simplified mechanisms and hybrid articulation of the prosthesis; combining mechanical body power to bend the elbow and motorized actuation of the hand.
Design:
The Patient
Understanding the patient and how he needs to use his arm allowed us to personalize the prosthesis and maximize its functionality.
Look Strong, Feel Strong
In order to best personalize the prosthesis for the patient, I sought to embolden his masculinity.
A muscular form accented with functional technical details would make for a strong, high performance looking prosthesis that not just physically empowers him, but psychologically empowers him with confidence.
Anatomical Basis
Taking measurements and a 3D scan of the patient allowed me to tailor fit the prosthesis to his body while CAD modeling.
Modeling
In order to best sculpt the organic, muscular form of the arm, the arm was SubD modeled in VR using Gravity Sketch then imported into SolidWorks to fully realize the design with functional details.
User Testing
The first two iterations of the prosthetic arm were quickly and roughly prototyped in order to inform us of proportion and fit, usability concerns, and opportunities for mechanical optimizations.
Final Iteration
The third and final iteration of the arm featured full realization of the design.
With fully functional features, electronic integration, and improved fit and comfort, the patient was proud to be able to pick up and move objects again.
