Dawson, who will soon begin second grade in Nevada, was born with a rare disease called Poland Syndrome, which causes birth defects, like her missing fingers, in one out of every 200,000 births. But she doesn’t let that hold her back – friends and family say that she unabashedly gives high fives and waves to people with that hand, and doesn’t try to hide it. She tries tasks on her own with her right hand first, before switching to her non-dominant hand or asking for help.
Her mom, Yong Dawson, said, “She has no fear. When she waves, she waves with her little hand. When kids want to hold her hand, that’s the hand she pulls out. She has no care about what other people think. When people ask her, she says, ‘This is what I was born with. You were born with blue eyes, I was born with his hand. This is me.”
She has a total of six different prosthetic hands, all of which have five fingers that are controlled and held together with fishing line. Each hand has a different design for a different purpose – Dawson even has a white presidential hand that she wore when she toured the White House and met former President Barack Obama.
Dawson’s 3D printed hands from UNLV are especially helpful at building her confidence, and she hopes to throw out the first pitch for as many MLB games as she can; her mother says they currently have requests out to multiple teams.
“Maybe she can throw one out in every major league ballpark. That’s what I’m going to work on this summer,” Dawson told SportTechie.
In the meantime, UNLV is continuing to work on its 3D printed prosthetic hand project, searching open source websites like for new design ideas. At the moment, the team wants to find better ways to scale the designs, like increasing flexibility, to meet the demands of people who need the hands. Eventually, they may even make the hands motorized.
O’Toole explained, “Right now, the fingers clench when the user rotates their wrist. It’s a simple design and low cost. But that means every time you want to grab something you have to flex your wrist, so we’re looking at ways to add motors to improve functionality.”
Scientists and researchers are continuing to experiment with 3D printing technology in the medical field, and developing materials that are durable and work with the human body. Both Dr. Trabia and Dr. O’Toole predict that mechanical engineering will play a large role in biomechanics in the future.
For instance, 3D printed hands made out of lightweight metal materials would be far better in terms of a permanent prosthetic solution than plastic hands, and they could even feature components like chips and sensors one day. Dr. O’Toole said that the ability to 3D print with different types of metals is regarded as a “huge expansion area for design and 3D printing in general.”
Materials like titanium are already revolutionizing implants, and just last month, FDA clearance was granted for the first time to a 3D printed titanium implant for the sacroiliac joint. Hopefully someday soon, a person who needs a hip or knee replacement will be able to have an MRI scan, have their replacement custom-designed, and 3D printed at a lower cost.
Dr. Trabia said, “It will be built to fit you.”
Discuss in the 3D Printed Hand forum at 3DPB.com.
[Source: SportTechie]