War victims in Ukraine receive prosthetic hands designed by TU Delft

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the need for prosthetic hands has increased dramatically. TU Delft researcher Gerwin Smit has developed a prosthetic hand that can be manufactured using a combination of 3D printing and laser cutting. This enables cost-effective production of the prostheses needed.

These prosthetic hands are already being used in India and now, the Indian technology company Vispala has donated 350 of Smit’s 3D-printed prosthetic hands to war victims in Ukraine, sponsored by the American IT-company, Cisco.

Biomechanical engineer Gerwin Smit is the designer of the so-called ‘Hundred Dollar Hand’ which is easy and inexpensive to produce using a combination of 3-D printing and laser-cutting. 80% of people needing a prosthetic hand live in countries which have little money for such things so Smit’s robust and artificial hand offers a robust and reliable solution.

Gerwin Smit: “I’m happy that we can contribute to this wonderful initiative. And I’m also hoping that, with help from the Movendi Foundation we can raise enough money to make another donation to Ukraine.”

Vispala

Last year, the social enterprise, Vispala made the Hundred Dollar Hand design ready for production and already, several hundred have been made and distributed around India since 2021.

Meanwhile, Gerwin Smit and his team are monitoring the use of these prosthetic hands and are gathering feedback to see how the design can be made even better.

Find out more about the TU Delft at tudelft.nl.

For more information about Vispala, please visit vispala.com.