未来经济实惠的 3D 打印仿生学

以进口技术成本的一小部分制造功能性假肢，仿生创新者和 TED 研究员恩佐·罗梅罗分享了一个开创性的模型，用于设计来自回收材料的 3D 打印辅助技术——在他的祖国秘鲁建造并为他的祖国秘鲁建造。听听卢克·天行者在《星球大战》中的仿生手如何启发罗梅罗追求机电一体化工程，并帮助残障人士和资源有限的人重获新生。

One in seven people around the world has some kind of disability. Being born without my right hand has defined who I amover the past 30 years. I was fortunate to grow [up] in the sacred valley of the Incas in Cusco, Peru, surrounded by people who weren't surprised to see me driving my bike or probably playing basketball. When I was seven, I remember being stunned after I watched "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," when Luke's hand gets cut off, the same one I didn't have. But then, being twice as stunned when the medical robots fitted him with a prosthesisthat could move and feel. From then on, no greater purpose lived in my mind, which was to have a prosthesis like Luke Skywalker.

全世界七分之一的人患有某种残疾。 在过去的 30 年里，出生时没有右手定义了我是谁。 我很幸运地在秘鲁库斯科的印加人神圣的山谷中长大，周围的人看到我骑自行车或打篮球并不感到惊讶。当我七岁的时候，我记得我在看《星球大战：帝国反击战》后惊呆了，当时卢克的手被砍掉了，那只我没有。但是，当医疗机器人为他安装一个可以移动和感觉的假肢时，他惊呆了两倍。从那时起，我心中不再有更大的目标， 那就是有一个像卢克天行者这样的假肢。

This dream led me to study mechatronics engineering and access the Biomechanics and Applied Robotics Laboratory in Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where, with a multidisciplinary team, we developed a myoelectric prosthesis for a long transradial amputation, being me, the pilot user. I was able to move each finger individually. And also we developed a way in which we get to pass the sensation from the fingertips into my forearm using haptic feedback system.

这个梦想让我学习了机电一体化工程，并进入了 秘鲁天主教大学的生物力学和应用机器人实验室， 在那里，我们与一个多学科团队合作，开发了一种用于长时间经桡骨截肢的肌电假体，我是试点用户。我能够单独移动每个手指。我们还开发了一种方法，使用触觉反馈系统将指尖的感觉传递到我的前臂。

Since this was a research project, we had enough funding to buy stuff from abroad. So, for example, the motors you get to see here, were all brought [from] Switzerland. This is one of the main reasons why it will cost at least 40,000 dollars to make this prosthesis. But 40K is way too much, considering that four out of five people with upper limb amputation live in developing countries. Even the 25,000 dollars that cost a robotic prosthesis imported from abroad is way too much. In Peru, that is equivalent to work full time on a minimum wage for almost seven years, just to buy the prostheses. Never mind pay for your food or your house. It is often that people get injured while doing manual labor activities like farming or metal manufacturing. Getting back to work and having access to money demands a functional hand.

由于这是一个研究项目， 我们有足够的资金从国外购买东西。 因此，例如，您在这里看到的电机 都是[从]瑞士带来的。 这也是制作这个假肢至少要花费 40,000 美元的主要原因之一。 但是考虑到五分之四的上肢截肢患者生活在发展中国家，40K 实在是太多了。即使是从国外进口的机器人假肢的 25,000 美元也太贵了。在秘鲁，这相当于以最低工资全职工作近七年，只为购买假肢。别介意为你的食物或房子付钱。 人们经常在从事 农业或金属制造等体力劳动活动时受伤。 重返工作岗位并获得资金需要一只实用的手。

It took me time to realize what a huge privilege I had to study a career that would help fulfill my dreams. But actually, what was preventing me from developing a solution that was both affordable and functional. The very first step in order to reducing the cost was to reduce the number of motors because they were all imported and therefore expensive. So we get to arrange occupational focus groups with our amputee volunteers in order to identify which gestures they will use the most, and of those,how many we could perform using just a single motor. The answer was three: pinch, cylindrical and lateral. This also helps us to reduce the number of electromyography sensors, too, from an arrangement of eight, we passed just to one. In this way, between makes in mechanical and myoelectric prosthesis, the prices will be dramatically low.

我花了一些时间才意识到我必须 学习一项有助于实现我梦想的职业是多么巨大的特权。 但实际上， 是什么阻止了我开发 既实惠又实用的解决方案。 降低成本的第一步 是减少电机的数量， 因为它们都是进口的，因此价格昂贵。 因此，我们可以与截肢志愿者安排职业焦点小组， 以确定他们最常使用哪些手势，以及我们仅使用一个电机可以执行多少个手势。答案是三个：捏，圆柱形和横向。 这也有助于我们减少肌电图传感器的数量， 从八个排列，我们只传递到一个。 这样，在机械假体和肌电假体之间， 价格将大大降低。

But material prices matter to. And that's why we choose to 3D print our prosthesis using mainly plastic from recycled bottles.Like the prosthesis I am wearing right now.

但材料价格很重要。 这就是为什么我们选择 主要使用回收瓶中的塑料来 3D 打印我们的假肢。 就像我现在戴的假肢一样。

In order to develop our prosthesis, the process will go like this.First, we'll use our 3D scan and our own parametrization software in order to take the measures of the amputated areaand the other hand of the user. Then we'll recreate the entire set of fingers, the palm and the prosthesis socket in our computational model to finally 3D print each of those parts. So far in LAT Bionics, we have two types of prosthesis. Maki, which is a mechanical activation and Pisko, with electronic activation.Pisko cost just 10 percent of an imported robotic prosthesis that will come from abroad. This means that even more working-class people can access our technology. For me, this has been a path where I was able to develop this in my company LAT Bionics. So, for example, take Franco, [who] now is using his transradial Maki prostheses in order to get back to work with his providers on the jungle farm he has.

为了开发我们的假肢， 过程将是这样的。 首先，我们将使用我们的 3D 扫描 和我们自己的参数化软件 来测量截肢区域 和用户的另一只手。 然后我们将在我们的计算模型中重新创建整套手指、 手掌和假肢窝， 最终对这些部分进行 3D 打印。 到目前为止，在 LAT Bionics 中， 我们有两种类型的假体。 Maki，这是一种机械激活 和 Pisko，具有电子激活。 Pisko 的成本仅为 来自国外的进口机器人假肢的 10%。 这意味着更多的工人阶级可以使用我们的技术。 对我来说，这是我能够 在我的公司 LAT Bionics 中开发它的途径。 因此，以 Franco 为例， 他现在正在使用他的经桡动脉 Maki 假肢 ，以便在 他拥有的丛林农场与他的提供者一起工作。

I am certain that we are able to be on the side with technology that is brought from abroad to our region being sold in a very expensive way. We have the capacity to develop our own technology, having the necessities of our people in mind. So then people with disabilities and limited resources could live a life again. For me, when people, our users, get back to work on their places, that look of compassion changed to astonishment. The same astonishment which I had when I saw Luke Skywalker prosthesis.

我确信我们能够站在以 非常昂贵的方式从国外带到我们地区的技术的一边。 我们有能力开发我们自己的技术，同时考虑到我们人民的需求。因此，残疾人和资源有限的人可以重新过上生活。对我来说，当人们，我们的用户，回到他们的地方工作时，那种同情的表情变成了惊讶。当我看到卢克天行者假肢时，我同样感到惊讶。

So this began as a path for myself, but it now belongs to my entire region. Would you like to join us?

所以这开始是我自己的一条道路， 但它现在属于我的整个地区。 你想加入我们吗？