Development of software for digital manufacturing of children’s prosthetic arms for 3D-printing

Sammanfattning: The conventional method to manufacture prosthetic arms is a time-\\consuming and complicated process. It is a process that has many manual steps that allow much room for human errors. With today's technology advancement it is possible to offer a more efficient technology that can replace the conventional manufacturing method of prostheses. This master thesis aims to develop a new way of manufacturing prosthetic arms. This report describes the development process of a software to digitally and automatically manufacture children's prosthetic arms for 3D-printing. The project aims to offer prosthetists a faster, cheaper and more intuitive way to manufacture prostheses without requiring extensive knowledge in CAD or programming. 3D-printing is considered to be a more advanta-\\geous technique than the traditional laminating method since it is possible to customize the design and tailor the model to a specific individual. The development process began with basic research on the human anatomy, special focus is on amputations and different types of prosthetics. In addition to medical research, research was also conducted on 3D printing and 3D printing materials to gain knowledge about the technical aspects of this project. Interviews and user studies were conducted to investigate the customer needs and to rank them accordingly. Based on the discovered needs, product specifications were established and concepts were developed. The development process was an iterative process where prototyping and testing had a central role. The final product is a Rhino \& Grasshopper script that auto-generates a prosthesis based on the scan of a limb and length and width of the non-amputated arm. The user is given a set of options to adjust the digital model for a customized design.