UNYQ Teams with Global Leader in Prosthetic Limb Manufacturing for Stylish 3D Printed Prosthetics

When it comes to lower leg prosthetics, conventional is no longer the reality. While years ago individuals with missing limbs tried their best to hide the fact, today it seems as though many are embracing it. While there are certainly still those individuals who prefer to wear prosthetic limbs which help them blend in with the crowds, others are opting for the ones which make them stand out, be different, and show the world that they are proud of their bodies. For these individuals, there is one company which has been making headlines quite a bit lately.

That company is UNYQ, a manufacturer of lower limb fairings. In June of last year UNYQ announced that they had raised $1 million for below the knee 3D printed prosthetic covers. Now, one year later, they have already become a well established company, by expanding their line of fairings, and forming partnerships with some of the biggest names within the 3D printing industry.

Today they announce a partnership with the global leaders in prosthetics, Ottobock, to provide stylish cosmetic fairings to lower limb amputees.

Ottobock is a company that has been around since 1919, producing prothetic limbs for individuals of all ages. They were founded in Germany after World War I, when a huge number of war veterans returned home with missing limbs. Since then, they have grown into the world’s leader in prosthetic limb manufacturing with over $450 million in revenue annually. They are responsible for creating the first microprocessor-controlled lower limb prosthetic systems in the world, and are constantly innovating within the industry.

“Ottobock is thrilled to join forces with UNYQ,” said Dr. Falk Berster, Business Unit Director, Ottobock. “Our company has a long tradition of developing cutting-edge technologies to improve the quality of life for amputees. Through our partnership with UNYQ, we are excited to offer products that enable our customers to combine their own identity with the technology we provide. We are convinced that self-confidently expressing and showing one’s own style and personality can support amputees to better reintegrate into daily life.”

The first collection that the two companies will be introducing is the “UNYQ designed for Ottobock” collection which will be introduced in quarter 3 of 2015. It will definitely be interesting to see how UNYQ’s unique designs are integrated with Ottobock’s extremely functional limbs.

“From the start our vision has been to make individualization and style accessible to as many amputees as possible,” explained Eythor Bender, CEO, UNYQ. “Teaming up with Ottobock and joining forces across their locations in 54 countries is a dream come true.”

3D printing is obviously going to play a major role in custom prosthetics in the future, and Ottobock clearly realizes this, so they foresee this partnership as one which will help them keep up with the times from an aesthetics standpoint. Surely we will see a lot of unique creations from these two companies in the coming months and years ahead.

What do you think about this partnership? Discuss in the UNYQ / Ottobock forum thread on 3DPB.com.