Futurology

1760 readers

290 users here now

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

A new 3D printer that can simultaneously print polymers of different elasticity and rigidity allows Swiss researchers to build a fully functional robotic human hand with bones, ligaments, and tendons. (www.eurekalert.org)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The article doesn't mention AI at all. Where are you getting that from?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Westworld

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah.... I work in orthotics and prosthetics, and have been hearing about 3d printed limbs replacing traditional prosthetics for about a decade now.

The biggest problem is that most of these designs are made by 3d printing enthusiasts that have zero education in medicine or material sciences. They don't know the proper therapeutic application of prosthetics, nor how materials interact with human physiology, or how giving a patient a substandard prosthetic may severely increase the chance of the pt rejecting the prosthetics in the future.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Well, if you read the article, the study authors are very well versed in material science. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a multidisciplinary team working on this project.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I mean the article didn't really talk about the application, it just focused on the printing.

Just because you specialize in new types of polymers doesn't mean you are an expert in the application of those polymers. Prosthetics require a level of durability that exceeds the limited strengths of most all plastics.

There's a reason we fabricate with materials like carbon fiber and titanium, and even those require regular maintenance and replacements.