Nonprofit organizations are responsible for most adaptive sports programs, but high equipment costs have made it difficult to provide disabled athletes with what they need. Trying to recycle old equipment isn’t a viable option, as most equipment needs to be custom fitted to the athlete. Since medical insurance won’t typically cover athletic items, it’s often difficult for these athletes to be able to afford their own gear.
A 14-week study done by Howard K. Brodwin, his firm, the Anderson Strategy Group, and the UCLA Anderson School of Management confirmed that the main hurdle for athletes with disabilities was justifying the exorbitant costs for equipment. 3D printing prosthetics using stronger polymer materials with superior flexibility are now a realistic option. The study confirms the use of 3D printing from various athletic wheelchairs to specialty prosthetics, and the finished findings will be presented at the Angel City Games, which is a multi-sport event for disabled athletes of all ages.
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Where prosthetics once were limited in their capabilities, they are now enabling all athletes to compete against one another. Disabled athletes no longer feel embarrassed by their accessories. The devices have become symbols of strength and perseverance for both science and the individual. Right now, advancements are being made to give style and function to each and every athlete who seeks it thanks to 3D printing.
A prosthetic device for swimmers, “Elle” is the product of such technological endeavors. The leg itself is designed to allow disabled persons not only the ability to swim, but to compete. Using a unique program, athletes can input their body type, weight, height, and buoyancy to create a custom leg, which uses a molded silicon fin over a carbon fiber printing. The multifunctional leg is built with endurance, hydrodynamics, balance, and comfort in mind.
Another forthcoming invention that 3D printing has made accessible is a fully functional robotic hand that is less than $1,500. The technology allows for increased dexterity that will only improve over time. Some who have used the hand have found it to be much more natural than alternatives that are more expensive. Though there’s still a ways to go, the future may enable athletes who are missing an arm to play football and rugby.
Surgeons are now utilizing the benefits of 3D printing, providing solutions that even a person who doesn’t have any disabilities will want to pay attention to. After a lateral meniscectomy and some ACL reconstruction, it didn’t seem likely that Koen would ever windsurf again. The pain wasn’t subsiding, and his mobility was at an all-time low. Surgeons developed a plan to utilize a 3D printed surgical guide printed by Marterialise. After much planning, the surgery was a success, and Koen is back to doing what he loves with no pain and full movement.
For sports like windsurfing and skateboarding, athletes need to look the part. The likes of a Japanese artist collective known as XSENSE is doing just that, making 3D printed prosthetics that allow athletes to showcase a personal flair. Their goal is both simple and admirable: make prosthetics that make abled-bodied people jealous. In collaboration with Paralympians the artists at XSENSE are creating functional prosthetic limbs by way of 3D printing in nylon. A substantial post-print process is however needed in order to achieve its uniqueness. XSENSE are working to achieve a vision that encapsulates the wants of those who want to look presentable as well as those who want to look cool. They also see a future where those with disabilities can have a wardrobe of prosthetics.
The future of prosthetics is becoming much more than an extension to recreate the normal use of a body part. With robotics and nanotech, 3D printed limbs are able to do more than they ever could. A world where people willingly give up parts of themselves for the better version may sound like science fiction, but it’s closer than we accept. It was only 2012 when athletes argued whether or not it was fair for a Paralympian to compete with an Olympian. And what happens when artificial organs become commonplace? Hearts that pump more efficiently and lungs that can hold twice as much air.
Efforts to improve today’s lives for the disabled athlete are being doubled, and the results are amazing. It wasn’t too long ago that disabled athletes were limited to sports that carried a tag to differentiate them from their able-bodied counterparts. But science isn’t going to stop there. For better or worse, as technology advances, those who aren’t disabled will start to see the appeal of improving their body’s abilities. A prosthetic leg for running will one day be undeniably superior to the real thing and a robotic hand will be able to generate greater amounts of pressure. With all the usability combined with looking like something from the future, our humanity’s choice on whether or not to take our biology to a superhuman level seems more and more conceivable.