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New Zealand’s 3D Printing Tailor-fit Artificial Limbs

Resuming an earlier lifestyle could be a challenge for an amputee. The good news is additive manufacturing can ease the transition. Artificial limbs are being produced at Victoria University’s School of Design in Wellington using 3D printing.

Professor of Industrial Design Simon Fraser, along with his colleagues Tim Miller, Bernard Guy and an array of eager post-graduate students, are exploring ways of making bespoke artificial limbs more accessible for New Zealand’s 4,000 amputees – all with 3D printing technology.

What the team is after could give hope to amputees, who by default, could be severely limited by their physical handicap. The essential focus of the design school is to improve the “emotional connection” between the limb and the user. Accordingly, they want a product that fits into New Zealand’s coastline and mountainous landscape, as well as the user’s lifestyle.

The artificial limbs available now on the market are very functional but tend to make people’s lives fit around the limb, rather than the other way round.

– Bernard Guy, Professor, Victoria University’s School of Design

Tim acknowledged that at the moment artificial limbs don’t represent who the person wearing them is or who they want to be. The team wants recipients to enjoy the lifestyle of their choice. That’s is exactly where the design comes in. Their goal is to have multiple limbs fit around their lifestyle and for every amputee to be able to have a specialised limb, not just athletes.

Definitely, the goal is rather ambitious. Nevertheless, 3D printing technology presents the most viable solution to answer the need. The tech itself is in a state of perpetual development. With this evolution comes the potential for a greater range and functionality of limbs, as well as aesthetics to make it meet a customer’s wishes. The prospects are looking good. Over time, industry experts believe 3D printing will deliver cheaper and more functional artificial limbs than what’s currently available.

The design school offers a range of post-graduate courses where students focus on opportunities to develop new concepts. So far, results are promising, with a ‘swim limb’ on its way to becoming suitable for production by the New Zealand Artificial Limb Service. The flexible swim limb, a cross between a human leg and a flipper, allows amputees to swim with ease in a straight line – as well as being able to walk to the pool with dignity.

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is the perfect way to tailor-fit a product to a user. Unlike 3D printing, traditional manufacturing involves moulds which not only cost a ton but also can factor in added time. What makes it truly superior is that 3D printing can tailor fit a product exactly to a user’s need. So, dentists can factor teeth replacements that suit the client best and shoe manufacturers can deliver pairs of shoes that fit the contours of a user’s feet.

ICT plays a huge role in 3D as designs are computer-aided. What’s more, designs can be sent online to fit the demand of a client thousands of miles away. Technology indeed offers a way to better lives.

With digital transformation, there are plenty of things that could change for the better in Aoteroa. What makes New Zealand stand out is its support of technology. With its planned digital currency, online transactions can be as secure as face-to-face interactions. It financed, for instance, a global marketing campaign aimed at showing the world its technology, attracting needed talent and capital in the process, as reported on OpenGov Asia.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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