The Open Prosthetics Project (OPP) is an

open design The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...

effort, dedicated to

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

"OP is a forum for collaboration among users, designers and funders with the goal of making our creations available for anyone to use and build upon. The site seeks to inspire and serve a core group of lead users and to speed up and amplify the impact of their innovations in the industry." By creating an online collaboration between prosthetic users and designers, the project aims to make new technology available for anyone to use and customize. On the project's website, medical product designers can post new ideas for prosthetic devices as CAD files, which are then available to the public free of charge. Prosthetic users or other designers can download the

Computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

(CAD) data, customize or improve upon the prosthesis, and repost the modifications to the web site. Users are free to take 3D models to a fabricator and have the hardware built for less cost than buying a manufactured limb. The project was started by Jonathon Kuniholm, a member of

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

who lost part of his right arm to an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

(IED) in Iraq. Upon returning home and receiving his first

myoelectric In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

hand, he decided there must be a better solution.

References

Sources

* *{{cite web , url=http://www.deskeng.com/News/Headlines/Open-Prosthetics-Project-Adopts-Alibre-Design-20060130842.html , title=Open Prosthetics Project Adopts Alibre Design , accessdate=2007-10-11 , author= , year=2006 , publisher=Desktop Engineering Magazine , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616054054/http://www.deskeng.com/News/Headlines/Open-Prosthetics-Project-Adopts-Alibre-Design-20060130842.html , archivedate=2007-06-16

External links

Openprosthetics.org
Public domain Prosthetics Medical and health organizations based in North Carolina Open content projects Open-source hardware