Being born without fingers can be tough for any child. Getting new ones — especially red and blue superhero-themed digits — has made 8-year-old Kaori Misue a vibrant playground star.
Flexing her wrist muscles to bend the plastic fingers, she can work with tape and stickers at an arts and crafts class. She can ride a bike, skip a rope and bake pastries with her mother. Her amazed friends have even begged to borrow the 3D printed hand, which looks a little like a Transformers toy strapped to her wrist.
“It was magical,” her mother, Karina Misue, said, “The confidence it gives kids is tremendous. They’re using it with pride.”
Gino Tubaro’s “Limbs” project is part of a trend of open source 3D-printing technology initiatives around the world.
Growing up, Mr. Tubaro remembers breaking apart home appliances to try to turn them into new inventions. Instead of reprimanding him, his parents signed him up to a weekend workshop where he had free range to experiment. Along the way, he began earning awards for his designs.
When he began using 3D printers, the mother of a child who was missing a limb asked him if he could design a hand for her son. Mr. Tubaro delivered it in 2014, when he was still in high school. Today, more than 500 people, mostly children, have received similar prostheses and 4,500 more remain on a waiting list.
The project uses volunteers around the world who own 3D printers to print the pieces and assemble and deliver the hands. They can cost as little as $15 compared to sophisticated designs that are priced up to $15,000.
If children outgrow a model, it can be easily replaced, perhaps with a different theme. A black Batman design can hurl plastic disks. A red and gold Iron Man version can shoot rubber bands. “It’s a wonderful experience because we’re getting photos of kids using the prostheses in Thailand, Mexico, Egypt ... doing things that they couldn’t do before,” Mr. Tubaro said.
