Now, 3D printing has made a remarkable change in a little girl's life.
This is Emma playing like any other ordinary child would at her age, without the worry of being a sufferer of a serious and rare neuromuscular condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. It causes her joints and muscles to be weak, making her unable to move her arms, since the bicep muscles do not expand or contract.
Source: http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/08/06/emmadrawing.png
So simply put, a set of appendages were 3D 'printed' and were attached to an exoskeleton structure called the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX). It is said to be attached to a wheel chair in normal applications. But Emma was too young and so it was designed to be lighter and easier for her to move around while keeping it attached. WREX is held by a number of resistance bands attached around Emma's arms. It is said to give a sense of 'floatation', which allows voluntary movements instead of an artificially created movement. Although WREX has been around for a number of years, Emma was the first patient to have 3D printed parts.
An excerpt from Tariq Rahman (Mechanical engineer and head of pediatric engineering and research at Nemours):
"Without the 3D printer, we would not be in a position we're in with these younger kids, making them a WREX device that can go with them..."
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WoZ2BgPVtA0
That concludes the post and click on the link below for the main article, if you want to read the full story.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57487822-1/3d-printed-magic-arms-give-little-girl-new-reach/
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