A Tunisian startup company is reportedly developing a 3D printed bionic hand to make
economical and solar-powered prosthetic available for the aid of disable and
amputees across Africa, reported news agency AFP.

This artificial hand will
come in customised shapes and sizes for children and youths, disparate from the
other traditional prosthetic tools, which otherwise need an expensive set of resized
models when they grow up.

The functioning of the device
takes place due to sensors attached to the arm that detect muscle movement, and
AI-assisted software that interprets them to transmit instructions to the
digits. The hand itself has a wrist that can turn sideways, a mechanical thumb
and fingers that bend at the joints in response to the electronic impulses.

Talking about the bionic hands, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of
Cure Bionics Mohamed Dhaouafi said, “Currently, for rehabilitation, children
are asked to pretend to open a jar, for example, with the hand they no longer
have, It takes time to succeed in activating the muscles this way.”

The first prototype was designed when Mohamed Dhaouafi was still an engineering student in his home
town of Sousse.

“One team member had a
cousin who was born without a hand and whose parents couldn’t afford a
prosthesis, especially as she was still growing up, so we decided to design a
hand.” Dhaouafi told AFP

He also discussed the
financial intricacies of the under developing product and market cost.

“The aim is to be
accessible financially but also geographically. The envisaged price of around
$2,000 to $3,000 is substantial, but a fraction of the cost of bionic
prostheses currently imported from Europe.” He added to it

Dhaouafi then pointed out the
hurdles company faced being situated in Tunisia, where ordering parts via large
online sales sites are quite difficult.

Noting the problem of less
funding, Dhaouafi said, “We lack visionaries within the state, but by
pooling money raised through sponsored competitions and seed investment from a
US company, we were able to recruit four young engineers.”

They are now fine-tuning
designs, writing code and testing the artificial hand.

The startup is expecting to
launch its first bionic arm in a few months in Tunisia and elsewhere in Africa,
where according to WHO, more than three-fourth population is in need of these inaccessible
facility devics.

The bionic hand is made of replaceable Lego-like parts to match a child’s physical
growth.

Dhaouafi introduced his
start-up, Cure Bionics in 2017 from his parents’ home. “I wanted to prove
I could do it. I also want to leave a legacy, to change people’s lives.” He
told AFP