Joel Gibbard’s 
Recently they had 
Their work isn’t limited to prosthetic hands and arms either. In a continuing collaboration with Abby Taylor, a researcher from the University of Bristol whose work explores alternative medical casting for broken and injured wrists, Open Bionics developed a 3D printed, custom fit, dual material splint. Speaking about the project, Abby said, “We hope to create an alternative to conventional casting that is often heavy and impractical. We want to improve the wearer’s experience.”
Abby was helped by Jonathan Raines, mechanical engineer at Open Bionics, in this project where the first step was to scan her wrist. The splint model for her wrist was modified using a voronoi pattern and then a dual extruder 3D printer combined PLA and Ninja Flex materials in the design.
While the PLA provides strength and rigidity to the design, the Ninja Flex provides softness, flexibility and also creates a living hinge that patients can use to slip the splint on or off. Incredibly, the material cost of the splint is just £2.
