Work in progress on a modular hand prosthesis at WUT
Each year, around 185 thousand people worldwide undergo amputation. It is estimated that this number will double by 2050. A team from the Warsaw University of Technology is working on a universal and cheap hand prosthesis, the elements of which would be replaceable and could "grow" with the user.
Ewelina Drelich working on the prosthesis model
Ewelina Drelich, a graduate of engineering studies at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, and currently a student of the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, came up with the idea of creating a modular hand prosthesis. Where did the inspiration come from?
Childhood dreams
– Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of being a doctor. Unfortunately, I am very much afraid of blood. I decided that it was not a good idea, because I would faint in front of a patient every time – Ewelina Drelich laughs.
Nonetheless, the student found a way to help people. She started studying at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering in the field of automation and robotics, specializing in biomechanics and bio-robotics. When looking for a topic for an engineering thesis, she considered making a small humanoid robot. However, it turned out to be too big of a project. She decided to concentrate on its part - a hand.
– I figured that creating a hand prosthesis will be a great alternative. Thanks to this, I can help people with a real problem – hand amputation, combining it with my passion for technology – she says.
The main goal of my work was to create the basis of the prosthesis mechanism, which in the future could be used to build a "universal" prosthesis, i.e. that could cheaply - by replacing appropriate skeletal elements "grow" with a person. One of the key design assumptions was also the "closure" of the prosthetic mechanism, that is, placing all mechanisms inside the housing.
The project "Anthropomorphic hand prosthesis – construction and study of the functioning of the thumb prototype” is financed under the "Excellence Initiative – Research University" program, implemented at Warsaw University of Technology. It was among the laureates of the competition for research grants "BIOTECHMED-2: Start" of the POB Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering Research Center.
