Victims of the war in Ukraine receive prosthetic hands designed by TU Delft

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the need for prosthetic hands has increased sharply. TU Delft researcher Gerwin Smit has designed a prosthetic hand that can be made through a combination of 3-D printing and laser-cutting, which means that they be produced easily and relatively cheaply in countries that have little money to spend on such things. 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.

Photo: Ministry of Health Ukraine

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.

Credits: NWO. The 100 Dollar Hand was created as part of a project funded by NWO’s Veni programme.

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.  

 

The person you see in the video lives in India and has lost both his hands. This means that for a long period, he hasn’t been able to work. Wearing two prosthetic hands, designed by Gerwin Smit, this man can now run his own shop and therefore now has an income.

Contact

Fien Bosman, Persvoorlichter Health & Care: f.j.bosman@tudelft.nl / 06-24953733
Gerwin Smit: G.Smit@tudelft.nl / +31 15 27 81688