A little boy's Christmas wish of playing the drums came true when his father?made him a 3D-printed 'hand' to let him hold the sticks with his prosthetic arm.?
This six-year-old boy named?Sol Smith-Ryan had an arm amputated after just 10 days. He always dreamed of drumming and it was fulfilled after his father created an attachment that snaps the drumsticks in place.
The 3D-printed attachment fits onto the end of Sol¡¯s prosthetic arm and is engineered for the drum stick to clip in place on it.
Sol's dad Ben Ryan said: ¡°Sol has always wanted to play the drums and he got a set for Christmas. With the use of technology, he can now play with two hands. This is a prototype, so I was able to use cheaper PLA compostable plastic to create it. I measured the circumference of the sticks and of the prosthetic arm to print off this modification within about half an hour.?
¡°Simple attachments like this can be tailor-made to cater for a child¡¯s interests. The options are limitless.¡±
Sol is now determined to follow in the footsteps of one of his heroes ¡ª Def Leppard¡¯s one-armed drummer Rick Allen, who plays his kit using foot pedals.??
This attachment is one of three that Sol can fix to his 3D printed bionic modular arm, which allows him to mix and match accessories to select the right tool for the job.??It's the first of its kind in the world.
Ben has also created a new lightweight printed hand for his son that is made of rubber. The device is like a ¡°Simpsons hand¡± with a thumb and just three fingers ¡ª and will help Sol with everyday activities.??
He added: ¡°While some might think it was created for more intricate detail, it was actually designed with sports in mind. The grippier fingers would allow a user to throw a football onto the pitch two-handed, for example, and to take part in matches with a much lighter weight attachment.¡°There are no motors or electronics, which means the technology is less likely to break and is much cheaper ¡ª it can even go in the water.¡±
Ben started engineering accessories for his son after he got tired of NHS waiting lists.?
Now, Sol?climbs, swims, rides his bike, plays football and loves karate ¡ª as well as play-?fighting with his four-year-old brother, Dex.
The sky is the limit for this guy.?
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