Engineering news
An artificial hand costing just £200 has been designed by a University of Derby student.
Matt Thompson, who has just completed a BSc (Hons) Product Design Engineering, designed his 'Myo' hand with developing and Third World countries in mind.
Thompson said: “Disease and war unfortunately means there’s a lot of demand for prosthetic limbs in poorer countries. Researching the subject, I found out that upper limb prostheses are more complicated and expensive than lower limb ones, and also that good ones are beyond the financial reach of most people living in those countries.
“It cost me about £200 in materials to build the Myo hand. It’s made of a tough nylon resin called Zytel with non-slip grips for the fingers. The fingers are fully articulated and what will really bring the cost of the hand’s electronics down is that I replaced the many individual motors for different actions, with just two, which will work off a rotating disc in the Myo’s wrist.”
The arm is controlled through the use of electromyography, a system used for many artificial limbs. Three electrodes run from the Myo hand to the real upper arm of the amputee, who would be taught to control the prosthetic hand using the upper arm’s individual muscle movements.
“I don’t think anyone else has managed to create a low-cost artificial hand where, effectively, one control disc could make all of the hand’s fingers move independently. I’m hoping the Myo can be refined and mass marketed, to bring its costs down even further."
The ‘Myo’ low-cost prosthesis will be on display at the New Designers 2014 exhibition, at London’s Business Design Centre, from 3-5 July.