3-D printing of adaptive aids for arthritis can save upwards of 94 percent for simple household items

“This is the difference between needing to go to someone to get your nails cut and being able to do your own, which, yes, there’s cost savings, but it’s also personal pride and being able to take care of yourself,” Pearce said. “And if your only problem is that the standard nail clipper is too tiny, we can fix that.”

Cost for individual items may not be too onerous. However, following a diagnosis, some patients need to overhaul or install many adaptive aids, like putting light switch flippers throughout the house, which adds up quickly. 3-D printing can trim that cost, and Pearce’s team only used printers that cost $500 or less, but the upfront cost of a printer may curb some people’s enthusiasm. Also, some people do not have to pay the full price for adaptive aids if Medicare or their insurance policy helps cover the purchases. Pearce says neither substantially affects the numbers.

“We printed and analyzed 20 different products and each one has a great return on investment, even for people who can use insurance to purchase adaptive aids with a co-pay, and a printer pays for itself easily,” Pearce said, explaining that the true challenge is not economic. “It’s a slam dunk — but the question becomes how do people get these aids?”

Access to 3-D Printing

People can save a lot having a 3-D printer on their kitchen table. Not everyone is ready for the distributed manufacturing wave in their home, but there are still many ways to bring 3-D printed goods to people with arthritis, particularly older patients.

“We’re not saying an 85-year-old with no personal computer experience is developing a CAD from scratch and prototyping a design 12 times,” Pearce said, explaining the open source designs are available for free online at Appropedia and MyMiniFactory.

Pearce sees nursing homes, doctor’s offices and physical therapy clinics as the ideal hubs for 3-D printed adaptive aids. Local makerspaces and libraries also provide access to printers, designs and knowledgeable people in exchange for fees that cover plastic and printing costs; some businesses even make a living providing 3-D prints.

Printed for Class

With that dream in mind, Pearce says his class started with base functionality. Their assignment — turned around in a week— was printed on Rep-Rap printers that the students built themselves in the first two weeks of class. They did all their adaptive aid prints with PLA plastic, focused on handheld items, and many of the students designed features with a loved one, friend or acquaintance in mind. They all work, but there’s always room for improvement.

“All the designs could be made much prettier and better — and that’s the beauty of open source. Because I hope in a couple years that we have a whole array of each one of these ideas that’s built out much further, applied all over the world and customized for individual people,” Pearce said. “This is a new field of 3-D printing design that’s just getting started. Lots of people can make real, honest-to-goodness, concrete contributions.”

See Also

Researchers develop novel 3-D printing method for creating patient-specific medical devices

Learn more: 3-D Printing Offers Helping Hand to People with Arthritis