A start-up company in San Diego is creating artificial limbs with a 3D printer. They say their digital system can be a cheaper, faster way to customize prosthetics. KPBS science and technology reporter Thomas Fudge has the story.
“This is the LIMBER unileg,” said company co-founder Joshua Pelz as he demonstrated a printed sample of a lower leg and foot made from lightweight, custom plastic. “We scan the patient from the waist down. We take that scan data and bring it into the computer as a 3D model,” Pelz said. “And we basically build the whole prosthetic device around that scan data.”
He said the limbs can be “thermally molded.” That means you can heat up the plastic material and adjust its shape.