A unique program at Kansas State University has students design ‘prosthetic skins’ for six different individuals with existing prostheses. Once finalized, the skin designs will be 3D printed using flexible resin as a canvas that can then be attached to existing prosthetic limbs.
To be clear, they aren’t looking to print skin tissue, or artificial skin to mimic natural skin. In purpose, their skins are more akin to product ‘skins’, which are purely aesthetic covers that can be removed and swapped out for another. These skins will allow users to envelope their otherwise bare mechanical prosthetic limbs with a touch of their own personality.
As one of the participants, who will be receiving the designed skin, Bryce Boyer said, “When the kids will stare at me, I want to give them something nice to look at. I am really looking for two things. I really want something that looks cool, but I also would like it to fill out a pant leg so I can look more professional in job settings.”
What separates this effort from others that have made 3D printed, customizable prosthetic limbs the Kansas State students are only looking to make customized exterior covers in silicone-like material, not designing entire limbs or fairings from scratch using 3D scanning tools or expensive materials. It’s a cheaper more flexible way of customizing a prosthetic limb (since you can always swap out a skin depending on the circumstance). It’s also much cheaper than other existing prosthetic skins. All six of the skins the students make will be produced for about the same cost as that of one commercially available skin, which is about a $1000.
So, 27 second-year students of the Interior Architecture and Product Design (IAPD) recently took on the challenge. Designing the skins was no easy task, since they had to first engage with the six participants to see what aspects of their personality they could draw out.. and quickly. One of the students, Hana Robinson said, “One of the challenges in creating this product was getting to know the participants in a compressed amount of time. We only talked to (the participants) once or twice before designing the skin, and since we really want to tailor the skins to the type of person, it is difficult to get the whole picture of who the person is in that amount of time.”
The students were also given just two weeks to design and complete their skins. Apart from the time constraint, it wasn’t as simple as it may sound, since they also had to follow guidelines for how to properly and ethically work with participants. This last piece had been part of their training in a certification program for Institutional Review Board.
Dustin Headley, associate professor and facilitator at the IAPD studio, said, “It really is an immersive experience where the students are not only being educated on some technical issues involved in making 3D printing and digital modeling, but also the result of that is not just an academic exercise. But it is something that is actually given and is manufactured and we give it to the participants This has a lot of implications, in terms of working with wounded warriors and veterans that are coming, or really just anyone.”
It also goes to show that 3D printing, with all its life-changing potential, doesn’t always have to be high-end or super-expensive to offer a custom solution, especially in the medical and lifestyle sectors. It also means that, like these students, anyone with empathy and knowledge can look to make a tangible difference to someone else. A difference that’s more than skin-deep.
