At age 22, in his last year of Industrial Engineering, Guillermo Martínez traveled to Kenya. What was initially a volunteer trip at an orphanage changed his life. And not only him. “At that time I was learning about 3D printing technology, which was on the rise, and how to apply it to the creation of prostheses for people who are missing limbs,” says Guillermo himself. On that trip, he donated five arms to five people in the Rift Valley.
Kenya was the seed of the foundation of the Spanish non-profit entity Ayúdame3D, specialized in the creation of Trésdesis: 3D printed prosthetic hands and arms with prehensile mobility. These prostheses do not need electronics to perform movements, but rather work through a mechanism of gears and threads, with a resistant material that only requires simple maintenance. To date, this NGO has delivered its Trédesis free of charge to more than 500 people around the world and continues to work with the firm conviction that technological advances must serve to help society.
“There are 83 million people in the world who cannot afford a prosthesis and our goal is to make these devices more accessible,” explains Guillermo. People like Philip, a Kenyan primary school teacher who appreciates being able to do a gesture as simple as picking up a book and chalk at the same time while he teaches. “It is wonderful to have this help in Kenya, which is very difficult to get here. It is a gesture of humanity that has opened many dreams for me. For 44 years, since I was born, I had never been able to use both hands.”
The accessibility that Guillermo talks about is not only from an economic point of view: one of the great advantages of these devices is their lightness. Their weight of approximately 500 grams makes them very suitable for children or the elderly. For Consolación, who is 86 years old and lives in Madrid, her two Ayúdame3D arm prostheses allow her to have the autonomy to eat alone, have a coffee or comb her hair. Before her, with her very expensive 4 or 5 kilo prostheses, activities like these caused pain and bruises.
The manufacturing of Trésdesis always starts from standard 3D models that adapt to each recipient, because customization is one of the great advantages of this type of printing. “It is a process of ‘digital craftsmanship’,” highlights the founder of Ayúdame 3D. And the design is printed in pieces, about 30 or 40 for each Trésdesis, and the final assembly is done manually, connecting and tensioning the threads that allow movement.
The materials with which the prostheses are made range from PLA (plastic from plant resources such as corn starch) or TPU (also environmentally friendly) to ABS, a plastic that they are now testing, which is very resistant. and which is used to manufacture everything from toys to plugs. ABS, the NGO comments, “has very good properties so that our devices have less wear and tear with movements and adapt to countries with adverse social or climatic conditions.”
In collaboration with Repsol, Elix Polymers and the Leitat Technology Center, they have recycled 4,000 pieces of ABS extracted from computer monitor casings that have been treated until they become a plastic filament suitable for 3D printing. With it, the startup will produce 5 prosthetic arms that will be delivered throughout the year to its recipients. It is an exercise in circular economy that summarizes, for Guillermo Martínez, “the possibilities that plastic has by processing it in an efficient way.”
The organization has also built a network of social alliances around the world dedicated to locating people who need a prosthesis, placing the Trédesis and monitoring maintenance. On the other hand, it has a platform of technological volunteers, expert collaborators in 3D printing. In Spain alone, the NGO has about 120 'Helpers3D' who do this "technological volunteering" by contributing their 3D printers and their knowledge to the cause, "turning what was their hobby or passion into a way to help." In addition, the startup is promoting a volunteer platform that will allow occupational therapists, through videoconference or in person, to train the recipient in the use of the device to improve their daily routine.
“The world's first social 3D printing farm”, as they like to call it, has 25 printers and is based in an innovation center in Madrid and has another office in Kenya, where it produces locally. Their future plans include expanding to Mexico or India. “We are helping these people gain dignity, something that I had never imagined and that motivates them to continue working and innovating in this field,” explains Guillermo.
