Up to 6,000 major limb amputations are carried out in the UK every year, according to the NHS, and amputees can understandably struggle to adapt to their injury.

Current prosthetic limbs can be cumbersome and limit movement, and if you’re wanting one that offers a bit more flexibility you can expect to be paying a lot more money for it.

But Open Bionics, the winner of the UK leg of the James Dyson Award, is hoping its low-cost robotic hand can change that.

With Open Bionics an entire hand can be 3D printed and assembled in just four manufactured parts, produced in around 40 hours and at a cost of under £1,000.

When compared with the £3,000-£60,000 a high-end prosthetic limb can usually cost, and the fact that these new robotic hands can complete tasks just as well as the expensive ones, it’s no surprise that Joel Gibbard, the 25-year-old behind Open Bionics, is on to a winner.

Read the full article – http://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/technology-and-gaming/3d-printed-robotic-hand-wins-uk-james-dyson-award-350096.html