The father of Oleg Galtsev lived without his right hand for over twenty years. Oleg, who is a programmer, developed a functional prosthesis for his father together with his colleague Sergei Arefiev, a design engineer.
Currently, the two are looking for a designer for their team in order for the prosthesis to have not only functionality but also the appearance of a human hand.
Sputnik Belarus correspondent Elena Vasilieva report that the mechanical hand needs to be strengthened so that parts of it do not have to be replaced every two months and could work without needing to be repaired for at least half a year.
Vasilieva spoke with Sergei, father of the programmer, for whom the prosthesis was designed.
“Oleg said — I have decided to make a prosthesis. Then the long work began. He made some calls to Germany, he was busy doing something and then at some moment he brought me a finger. The finger worked. From there my help as a consultant was needed,” Sergei Galtsev told Sputnik Belarus.
Sergei further said that they actively tested the mechanical hand for two weeks and he tried to saw using both his hands. He also managed to cut grass in the countryside during the summer and the prosthesis passed all tests.
Oleg and his father demonstrated how the mechanical prosthesis could assemble and disassemble a children’s pyramid of cubes. The process was uploaded to the internet platform called the hackerspace.
However, the programmer specified that neither this prosthesis nor its Western counterparts can replace the actual hand but it wouod considerably facilitate one’s life.
Galtsev said that brushing teeth and holding a mug are manageable, hence, it is a good alternative to foreign brands and it is cheaper also.
“In Germany, a similar prosthesis is worth about thirty thousand dollars. When we are sufficiently able to modify our model and put it out on sale, we do not plan to raise the price higher than a thousand dollars,” Galtsev said.
Regarding the mechanism of the mechanical hand, the father of the programmer, mastered using it in just a few minutes. The mechanism works in a way that does not require any special training beforehand, making it easy to operate.
“There are many people with such handicaps, especially now when there are so many wars in the world. Hence, I think this is a good alternative to major global brands,” Sergei said.
The project developers have put up the schemes of the prosthesis online so that any company engaged in 3D-printing can download the file with diagrams of various parts and then assemble the prosthesis as instructed.
Talking about how difficult it is to put together their mechanical hand, Arefiev said, “Anyone who has put together IKEA items will be able to put this together also.”
According to the creators, right now customers from Belorussia and Ukraine have shown interest.
“They want to know whether we can develop a model for children. But for now we are focused on perfecting the current prosthesis. The second stage would be to create a female version, a narrower hand. Only after that we can tackle the most difficult task, a prosthesis for children,” Sergei explained.
The creators have also tried to approach some crowdfunding platforms, to raise capital but so far they have had little response.
However, considering that currently there is so much sensation around this prosthesis and its developers, it is possible that quite soon people will start funding their project, which is aimed at helping those in need.
