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Seven-year-old Faith Lennox never thought she needed a left hand; after all, she couldn't remember losing hers when she was only nine months old.
 But when it came to getting one custom-made in a day by a 3-D printer, that was a different story. Particularly when she got to pick the colours — her favourite pink, blue and purple.  
 "It's really cool!" the otherwise shy little girl said as she stood surrounded by high-tech computers in the Build It Workspace in this Orange County suburb. 
Build It Workspace is a 3-D printer studio that teaches people to use high-tech printers and provides access to them for projects. It also does commercial printing.
 She had left school early to go there with her mother, Nicole, to watch in fascination as her new hand began to take shape. 
She stood for several minutes transfixed as it slowly moved from computer image to hard-plastic reality. She planned to return the next day to try it on.
 The finished product will be the result of an emerging technology that is revolutionising prosthetics, said Build It's Mark Lengsfeld, especially for children like Faith, who quickly outgrow expensive prosthetic limbs and have trouble even using them because of their size and weight.
 "It's an amazing thing to be doing," the company's president and founder said of making a hand that weighs less than 450 grams, out of the same kind of plastic used in automobile parts.
  The oldest of three children, Faith's  position during childbirth cut off the flow of blood to her left forearm, irreparably damaging tissue, muscle and bone. 
After nine months of trying to save the limb, doctors determined they had to amputate just below the elbow.
 Faith's parents were working with the non-profit group E-Nable to get her a 3-D-printed hand, but the technology is so new there's a waiting list, her mother said. Then she learned of what Lengsfeld's company could do from a friend whose son visited with his Scout troop.
 E-Nable provides open-source technology for building the hand, Lengsfeld said, making it economical for anyone with the right printer and a set of instructions to create one. Faith's only costs US$50, and when she outgrows it she can easily build a bigger replacement. 


3-D printing technology poised to revolutionise prosthetics by delivering quicker, cheaper solution

Faith Lennox with her new US$50 3D-printed hand, which replaces the limb lost to compartment syndrome suffered at birth.Photo: AP

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Cutting-edge technology may revolutionise prosthetics with quicker, cheaper solution


3-D printing technology poised to revolutionise prosthetics by delivering quicker, cheaper solution

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Cutting-edge technology may revolutionise prosthetics with quicker, cheaper solution

Cutting-edge technology may revolutionise prosthetics with quicker, cheaper solution