Texas Tech Honors College senior Teja Pati wasn’t looking to create a fuller lives for two Lubbock area boys. But that’s what’s happened since he found a 3D hand template on the National Institutes of Health’s 3D Print Exchange and availed himself of free access to the University’s Libraries 3-D printer in Maker Space.
Pati, who’s been accepted to Tech’s Health Sciences Center’s medical school, says he felt compelled to help when one boy’s grandmother reached out about her grandson, who was born with just one hand.
“At the maker’s space, they were letting students print for free for a while, I was one of those who took advantage of that opportunity. So, I printed off things like a key chain of these butterflies and then I decided how can I apply this technology in medicine,” he said. “You hear stories about 3D printing a heart or a kidney, but I’m not at that level just yet, so my focus is on what I can do right here and right now.”
In the past year or so, Pati has created prosthetic hands with superhero motifs added to help the young boys. Eight-year-old Toby Carrizales’s has a Spiderman and 10-year-old Malakai Johnson’s has The Flash.
Pati says the superhero facet is key.
“It was important because we wanted to make a device that the kids would actually use and we found that some kids tend to be outcasts because of their disabilities,” he explained. “But when we come in we can make them the coolest kid in town, so the superhero aspect is more of a personal touch—something to make it their own, something to make it unique.”
The plastic prosthetic hands can be made for only about $20, which is far, far less than they typically cost. Pati says he’s nearly completed IRS paperwork to set up a nonprofit that’s called 3D Prints for Patients.
Toby suffered a birth defect called amniotic banding syndrome that resulted in him having a stump instead of a hand on his left arm. Malakai, from Smyer, has Poland and Moebius syndrome and was born with an underdeveloped right arm.
The 21-year-old Pati, an Eagle Scout and trained EMT, says he cultivated friendships while working with the boys.
“The way I approach this is more interactive. It’s not here’s this gray plastic hand, use it. It’s more of a come work with me and we’ll make this a part of you, because in the end that is what it is. It’s not just a shirt you can change, or shoes you can take off. This device is something that will be with you hopefully for months on end. So, in order to make it more part of themselves and a representation of who they are by involving them in the design process, we are then able to get them to a place where they actually want to use it and show it off.”
Within a few minutes of strapping the plastic prosthetic on, each boy was able to operate it. Pati says the design is quite simple. “It’s fishing line and elastic, that’s all you need.”
The boys’ prosthetics will need to be replaced as they grow. For now, though, they can use both hands to grip bike handlebars, play sports and video games, and pick up items they once could not.
Pati wants to help others in the area. To reach him, email 3dprintsforpatients@gmail.com. But he has his eyes set on a larger pool of people.
“The vision I see for this isn’t limited to Lubbock, I think there’s a global impact that we could make. According to the CDC and the World Health Organization, there’s about one in 42 thousand Americans who need a device like this, but in some other countries, there is one in one hundred. If we were able to partner with organizations like Doctors Without Borders, or Project Cure, we would then be able to make a truly global difference,” he says.
