Dario with IKO Creative Prosthetic System and custom attachment. Columbian designer Carlos Arturo Torres developed the first-ever prosthetic to be Lego-compatible. Users can build-their-own add-ons, which range from a realistic hand attachment to Lego Mindstorms robot.(image: Carlos Arturo Torres)
No matter where they live, children of every age love building things with LEGO Bricks, including child amputees. That’s why Columbian designer Carlos Torres decided to develop a prosthetic arm that is compatible with Legos, so kids can create an extension of themselves in any way they desire.
IKO Creative Prosthetic System (image: Carlos Arturo Torres)
Torres calls the project the IKO Creative Prosthetic System. While many prosthetic designers are working on enabling intercommunication between the brain and the prosthetic unit, Torres thought children might have different needs. Being a child amputee has intense social complications, and Torres thought a fun prosthetic that enabled more ways to play could turn that social roadblock into a bridge.
IKO Creative Prosthetic System segments (image: Carlos Arturo Torres)
The prosthetic is easy-to-assemble, and allows kids to build-their-own additions. Kids first attach a custom-made socket interface to their remaining appendage. The interface is equipped with a processor, two myoelectric sensors and runs on a rechargeable battery. The portion of the prosthetic that serves as the lower arm easily twists into place and is Mindstorms engine-compatible (which would allow users to connect LEGO’s new line of robots directly to their prosthetic, seamlessly). The system also has holes on the exterior shell that are Lego-compatible, so anything a user can dream he can build.
Custom add-on (image: Carlos Arturo Torres)
Torres also developed a prosthetic hand that features a precise grasp, a power grip and wrist movement to mimic real hand motion. If a kid is less interested in having a normal hand, however, they can use the same attachment to build anything they can imagine. Eight-year-old Columbian amputee Dario was the test subject throughout the development of the project (and Torres’ partner in crime), preferred a laser gun to a hand, for example (and so did his friends). If the user does opt to attach a custom Lego design to the arm, the myoelectric sensors in the interface will inform the rest of the arm on how to move. The product may also enable kids to use the online LEGO Minstorms platform to control their custom add-ons, but the promise of this remains unclear.
Dario with the IKO Creative Prosthetic System (image: Carlos Arturo Torres)
Throughout the development of the project, Torres worked closely with LEGO Future Lab, occupational therapists, psychologists and little Dario. He was touched by Dario’s excitement and hopes to have the prosthetic market-ready by the end of 2016. Regardless, this opens up an entirely new dimension of prosthetic development. People have individual needs that change minute-to-minute, so why not allow them to custom-design their own body on the go? This can, and should, change the way we make prosthesis.
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