3D Printing Pilot Targets Prosthetic Socket Production in The Gambia

• British charity STAND has begun a pilot program in The Gambia that applies 3D scanning and printing to the production of prosthetic sockets, the custom-made part that joins an amputee’s residual limb to an artificial leg. The initiative, co-financed by the European Union, is intended to test whether digital fabrication can offer a quicker, simpler,…

British charity STAND has begun a pilot program in The Gambia that applies 3D scanning and printing to the production of prosthetic sockets, the custom-made part that joins an amputee’s residual limb to an artificial leg. The initiative, co-financed by the European Union, is intended to test whether digital fabrication can offer a quicker, simpler, and more precise alternative to conventional manufacturing methods. Precision is central to the problem the project addresses. In traditional socket-making, a deviation of just one millimetre can result in discomfort severe enough that patients stop wearing their prosthesis altogether. The digital workflow is designed to cut out that margin of human error, while also lowering the cost of each leg, shortening production times, and eliminating th