Conception, design, and fabrication of novel cost-effective partial-hand prosthetic devices for a quadrilateral individual with limb loss

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-463
Author(s):  
Yu Xuan Vanessa Ng

Background and Aim: The author designed customized upper-limb prosthetic devices for a 22-year-old man with quadrilateral limb loss. The devices were created to meet his functional requirements, while remaining cost-effective. What made this solution unique was that it utilized low-cost items that were easily sourced and maintained. Technique: Devices with polypropylene sockets, wooden positional fingers from an artist’s wooden hand and a metal extension plate were conceptualized and manufactured. The patient gave written consent to the publication of information and photographs in this report. Discussion: The devices allowed the individual to complete tasks he desired to be able to perform independently, which included using a computer mouse, aided by the devices. The devices utilized were low-cost and easily accessible materials, such as polypropylene and wood, to cater to financial constraints. The final design had positional fingers and an extension plate to restore surface area for grip, support, and opposition to enable the execution of daily tasks of living. Clinical relevance A cost-effective method of fabricating partial-hand devices with easily accessible materials is described. The resulting devices were successful at restoring the upper-limb surface area for improved grip, support, and opposition for performance of daily tasks.

2012 ◽  
Vol 576 ◽  
pp. 402-405
Author(s):  
H. Misran ◽  
F.A.M. Zini ◽  
Musdalilah Ahmad Salim ◽  
Ramesh Singh

Mesoporous γ-alumina with relatively high surface area of ca. 590 m2/g and pore size of ca. 2.0 nm to ca. 9.7 nm were successfully processed using facile and cost-effective method in the presence of renewable, low-cost templates. Controlled addition of water during the processing of the materials was found to control the rapid hydrolysis rate of alumina precursors resulting in mesoporous formation. In addition, these materials porosity was made up from framework porosity as well as textural porosity given rise from the aggregations of γ-alumina nanoparticulates. Regardless of the materials specific surface area value, the competitive adsorption amount of energy gas in 68 % humidity environment increased as relative crystallinity of the materials increased.


2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (06) ◽  
pp. 795-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL LIM ◽  
ERNA GONDO SANTOSO ◽  
KIM MING TEH ◽  
STEPHEN WAN ◽  
H. Y. ZHENG

Silicon has been widely used to fabricate microfluidic devices due to the dominance of silicon microfabrication technologies available. In this paper, theoretical analyses are carried out to suggest suitable laser machining parameters to achieve required channel geometries. Based on the analyses, a low-power CO 2 laser was employed to create microchannels in Acrylic substrate for the use of manufacturing an optical bubble switch. The developed equations are found useful for selecting appropriate machining parameters. The ability to use a low-cost CO 2 laser to fabricate microchannels provides an alternative and cost-effective method for prototyping fluid flow channels, chambers and cavities in microfluidic lab chips.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 181359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samah Abo El Abass ◽  
Heba Elmansi

A green, sensitive and cost-effective method is introduced in this research for the determination of bambuterol and its main degradation product, terbutaline, simultaneously, relying on the synchronous spectrofluorimetric technique. First derivative synchronous spectrofluorimetric amplitude is measured at Δ λ = 20 nm, so bambuterol can be quantitated at 260 nm, and terbutaline can be measured at 290 nm, each at the zero crossing point of the other. The amplitude–concentration plots were linear over the concentration ranges of 0.2–6.0 µg ml −1 and 0.2–4.0 µg ml −1 for both bambuterol and terbutaline, respectively. Official guidelines were followed to calculate the validation parameters of the proposed method. The low values of limits of detection of 0.023, 0.056 µg ml −1 and limits of quantitation of 0.071, 0.169 µg ml −1 for bambuterol and terbutaline, respectively, point to the sensitivity of the method. Bambuterol is a prodrug for terbutaline, and the latter is considered its degradation product so the established method could be regarded as a stability-indicating one. Moreover, the proposed method was used for the analysis of bambuterol and terbutaline in their single ingredient preparations and the results revealed statistical agreement with the reference method. The suggested method, being a simple and low-cost procedure, is superior to the previously published methods which need more sophisticated techniques, longer analysis time and highly toxic solvents and reagents. It could be considered as an eco-friendly analytical procedure.


Author(s):  
Piyush Upadhyay ◽  
Yuri Hovanski ◽  
Saumyadeep Jana ◽  
Leonard S. Fifield

Development of a robust and cost-effective method of joining dissimilar materials could provide a critical pathway to enable widespread use of multimaterial designs and components in mainstream industrial applications. The use of multimaterial components such as steel-aluminum and aluminum-polymer would allow design engineers to optimize material utilization based on service requirements and could often lead to weight and cost reductions. However, producing an effective joint between materials with vastly different thermal, microstructural, and deformation responses is highly problematic using conventional joining and/or fastening methods. This is especially challenging in cost sensitive, high volume markets that largely rely on low cost joining solutions. Friction stir scribe (FSS) technology was developed to meet the demands of joining materials with drastically different properties and melting regimes. The process enables joining of light metals like magnesium and aluminum to high temperature materials like steel and titanium. Viable joints between polymer composites and metal can also be made using this method. This paper will present the state of the art, progress made, and challenges associated with this innovative derivative of friction stir welding (FSW) in reference to joining dissimilar metals and polymer/metal combinations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-184
Author(s):  
Arezoo Eshraghi ◽  
Jaeeun Yoo ◽  
James Klein ◽  
Ian Mckenzie ◽  
Gabrielle Sebaldt ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: For infants and small toddlers with congenital upper limb deficiencies, terminal devices mainly provide either cosmesis or functionality. We report a clinical note about fitting a child with a low-cost passive hand targeting both functionality and cosmesis. Technique: An elastomeric, alloy-wire-reinforced hand was fabricated using additive manufacturing to allow independent positioning of the digits. A clinical pilot in-home evaluation was conducted on a child with upper limb loss. Discussion: The fabricated hand met the functional requirements but required a cover for cosmesis due to a poor surface finish associated with the fabrication technique. The participant child was comfortable using the prosthesis for various tasks. The parents were satisfied with the hand’s function and cosmesis when covered with a cosmetic glove. This work demonstrated a new design and process that may in the future improve the utilization of prosthetic hands to promote early prosthesis use and a child’s development. Clinical relevance Early prosthesis use is important for infants and toddlers. Additive manufacturing may enable the fabrication of custom passive prosthetic hands that provide both cosmesis and functionality.


Author(s):  
Kermit Davis ◽  
Susan Kotowski ◽  
Michael Jorgensen

With practitioners more often adopting job rotation practices in their facilities, there is an increased necessity for effective methods to measure the complex exposures in the diverse jobs that may be selected for a particular job rotation scheme. Potential methods need to be both versatile and simple, ensuring easy application and low cost. The current study developed and evaluated the potential of a video-based analysis method that combines the exposure measure of four body regions: neck, shoulder, low back, and hand/wrist. Three experienced analysts assessed the postural load for all jobs within fifteen different job rotation schemes at a manufacturing facility. Several potential indices were developed, computed and discussed. Overall, the video-based analyses evaluated in the current study provide an easy and cost effective method that allows a practitioner to compare multiple stressors at one time. Future work will evaluate the effectiveness of the method in actually controlling musculoskeletal disorders as well as incorporate other risk factor exposures such as forces, repetition and motion.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (14) ◽  
pp. 3773-3778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Hu ◽  
Sagar Chakraborty ◽  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Benjamin Woolston ◽  
Hongjuan Liu ◽  
...  

In the quest for inexpensive feedstocks for the cost-effective production of liquid fuels, we have examined gaseous substrates that could be made available at low cost and sufficiently large scale for industrial fuel production. Here we introduce a new bioconversion scheme that effectively converts syngas, generated from gasification of coal, natural gas, or biomass, into lipids that can be used for biodiesel production. We present an integrated conversion method comprising a two-stage system. In the first stage, an anaerobic bioreactor converts mixtures of gases of CO2 and CO or H2 to acetic acid, using the anaerobic acetogen Moorella thermoacetica. The acetic acid product is fed as a substrate to a second bioreactor, where it is converted aerobically into lipids by an engineered oleaginous yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica. We first describe the process carried out in each reactor and then present an integrated system that produces microbial oil, using synthesis gas as input. The integrated continuous bench-scale reactor system produced 18 g/L of C16-C18 triacylglycerides directly from synthesis gas, with an overall productivity of 0.19 g⋅L−1⋅h−1 and a lipid content of 36%. Although suboptimal relative to the performance of the individual reactor components, the presented integrated system demonstrates the feasibility of substantial net fixation of carbon dioxide and conversion of gaseous feedstocks to lipids for biodiesel production. The system can be further optimized to approach the performance of its individual units so that it can be used for the economical conversion of waste gases from steel mills to valuable liquid fuels for transportation.


1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Richard B. Cooper ◽  
Terry J. Reelr

Education and Training Panel SP-9's 1991 report, "Recommendations on the Use of Interactive Instruction for Training Shipyard Trade Skills," indicates that although very few American shipyards have used it or are familiar with it, interactive multimedia has great potential as a low-cost, effective method for the training of skilled trade tasks. These findings led SP-9 to develop an interactive lesson that demonstrates how interactive multimedia can be integrated into shipyard training programs to reduce training costs, increase productivity, promote quality awareness, and improve worker competence. The demonstration combines computer graphics, animation, still and motion video, sound, and touchscreen interaction to demonstrate the broad spectrum of the interactive multimedia technology. This paper describes the project as an example of how shipyard training departments can develop their own interactive multimedia courseware by determining appropriate applications of the technology; selecting the most suitable hardware and authoring system for delivering the instruction; researching, planning and designing the lessons; and shooting the video, authoring the courseware, and integrating them into an effective interactive multimedia course.


Fabrication based on the vapour-phase reaction technique has proven to be the most cost-effective method for producing low-loss optical fibres. This is particularly true for silica-based materials and is now being investigated for fluoride-based glasses. The advantages accrue not only from the purity possible but from the flexibility of the process. This enables complex refractive-index structures to be fabricated that allow enhanced system performance. Advances toward low-cost fabrication have been made in all major processing techniques during the past few years. A review of the current status is presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1919-1925 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Amritha ◽  
B. Manu

The present study aims to establish the use of iron (Fe) from larerite in the case of Fenton's oxidation process which is a simple and cost-effective method for degradation of nitro compounds in effluents and in surface or ground water. 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) degradation by Fenton's oxidation method is the subject of the present study so as to optimize pH, hydrogen peroxide/iron (H/F) ratio at different initial concentrations of 4-NA. The optimum pH obtained was 3. The present study has also established optimum H/F ratio for the different initial concentrations of 4-NA for both conventional and use of Fe from laterite. The maximum removal efficiency of 99.84% was obtained for an H/F ratio of 100 for 0.5 mM initial concentration of 4-NA. The study establishes the use of Fe extracted from locally available laterite soil (LS) as a replacement of Fe salts so as to reduce the cost of the process.


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