Turkish charity Robotel Türkiye Foundation has up to now offered over 1,000 mechanical 3D-printed palms to greater than 400 kids within the colors of their favorite cartoon characters.
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A Turkish charity is producing customised prosthetics for kids who misplaced their limbs in final month’s quakes in Türkiye within the colors of their favorite cartoon characters.
“Children do not think like you and I do. What’s more important for their mental health is the ability to show off their hand to their peers, and to be accepted among them,” Serdar Okumus, founding father of Robotel Türkiye Foundation, advised Anadolu Agency over the telephone on Friday.
“To be able to say ‘I have the hand of iron man’ gives confidence to a child and it also attracts positive reactions from other kids too,” he mentioned.
Each prosthetic hand is designed digitally, tweaks for greedy motion are made and the kid’s favorite characters or the colors of the staff they assist are placed on it.
“Then the digital file is sent for 3D printing, which takes about 18 hours,” he said.
The basis has offered over 1,000 mechanical 3D-printed palms to greater than 400 kids up to now.
“The reason for why those numbers do not add up is, when children develop to a certain age, new mechanical hands have to be made,” he mentioned.
“Unfortunately, we have heard many reports of amputation from the disaster area. While the numbers are not final, it is clear that they are high,” mentioned Okumus, who’s at the moment visiting the quake-hit areas.
“At this moment, it is hard to get credible information from the area. We have heard that at least 1,000 amputations are required,” he added.
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Environmentally pleasant bioplastics
Okumus mentioned after the elements for the hand are individually printed, they’re assembled and the kid tries them on to verify it suits and works.
“If a revision is needed, it is done and the hand is re-printed. The child’s bodily development is followed for six months to a year and when the child outgrows the hand, a new hand is printed,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the palms are produced from environmentally pleasant bioplastics from corncobs.
“The hand is activated through the movement of the elbow. While it can only perform a basic grasp, it provides a boost in confidence and it is beneficial in brain development too,” he mentioned.
Okumus mentioned the group gives prosthetic palms to kids freed from value.
“While the hand can be manufactured for a relatively cheap cost, there is a lot of labour involved and we are looking for sponsors so we can continue doing what we do for free,” he mentioned, including that donations might be made by their web site robotel.org.
Volunteers can even register themselves on the web site.
Twin earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye and Syria on February 6 have left greater than 50,000 folks lifeless.
“The people in the region and local health authorities need to hear us and direct our efforts to the people in need,” Okumus mentioned.
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Source: AA
Source: www.trtworld.com
