Inspired by Star Wars character Luke Skywalker, a one-handed Peruvian mechatronic engineer created low-cost customized hand prostheses using digital manufacturing technologies.
Enzo Romero, a graduate of Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP), claims to remember having found the solution to his disability when he lived in Cusco at the age of 7 after watching The Empire Strikes Back, the fifth installment of the Star Wars saga.
At that time, he understood what Luke Skywalker had experienced after losing his right hand. Enzo knew what it means not to have that limb but —unlike the young Jedi— he did not have his hand sliced off by a lightsaber, since he was born without his right hand.
"At the end of the movie, an android designed a new hand for Luke. This new hand had a sensitive response. Therefore, I thought to myself: I want the same thing," he told Andina news agency.
Years later, after finishing school, he left his native Urubamba and headed to Lima to study engineering.
Now, at 27, he is not only a mechatronic engineer but, along with a multidisciplinary team made up of members of the Research Group on Applied Robotics and Biomechanics at PUCP, he launched the initiative "Lending a Hand," through which they develop customized hand prostheses.
This prosthesis, he says, is more affordable than the ones available in the market, since one from abroad costs up to S/250,000 (about US$75,250). The cost of this prosthesis ranges between S/3,000 (about US$903) and S/4,500 (US$1,354), depending on whether it is for fingers or the entire hand.
"We have a 3D scanner that scans the amputated section. Then, on the computer, using the dimensions of a finger (length and diameter), we can make the rest of the fingers, palm and, most importantly, the prosthetic socket, since all amputations are different from each other," he stated.
The prosthesis does not return hand's dexterity to normal. However, Romero says, it helps recover partial functions, such as serving food, eating at home, brushing teeth, and carrying objects up to half a kilo.
"An occupational therapist determines whether the patient is suitable for our prostheses. On the occupational therapy side, we verify if the patient can move the hands or not, and on the psychological side, if the individual has overcome the denial and grief phase over the loss of one of the limbs," he explained.
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Video: Peruvian "Luke Skywalker" creates a low-cost prosthesis
Publicado: 27/12/2019