3D printer helps 4-year-old girl who can't use her arms play with toys

A 3-year-old girl now has the use of her limbs thanks to a 3D printer that allowed doctor's to custom make a device.

/ Youtube/stratasysfdm

(CBS News) A 4-year-old girl with a rare disease that robbed her from using her arms can now pick up toys and play for the first time with the help of a 3D printer.

When Emma Levelle was born, her legs were up by her ears, her shoulders were internally rotated, her fingers were deviated, and she had rocker-bottom feet. Doctors diagnosed her with a condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, her mom said tearfully in a video uploaded to YouTube.

Arthrogryposis is a genetic condition that causes muscles to be abnormally developed and joints to be stiff, according to the Boston Children's Hospital.

Doctors re-casted Emma's legs. Slowly, she began to develop, but she did not regain ability in her arms. But after observing a presentation on a robotic exoskeleton, or WREX, at a medical conference, Emma's mom enrolled her daughter in treatment with the device's maker, Dr. Tariq Rahman. Rahman is the director of the center for orthopedic research and development at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del.

WREX is a body-powered exoskeleton that attaches to either a person's wheelchair or a body jacket that is currently sold by JAECO Orthopedics. Using the WREX attached to a stand, Emma was able to slip her arms through the elastic bands and in no time lifted her hands up to her mouth for the first time, grabbing toys, food and candy to her parents' amazement.

The WREX however was built with metal parts and too big for a 25-pound little girl. Using a Dimension 3D printer, the researchers at the hospital created a custom-designed, light-weight robotic exoskeleton that enables young Emma to overcome the limitations of her disorder use her arms for the first time to play. The plastic the printer uses is the same kind used to create LEGOs, according to the researchers.

Emma now calls them her "magic arms."

Watch Emma's story here in this video from Stratasys, the manufacturer of the printer used by Emma's doctors:

[StanwoodDolph]

Hello Ryan Jaslow,

I really enjoyed reading this article and I have something else you might be interested in. I am an employee of Blu-Bin Inc, a 3D printing start-up that is about to open the doors of it's first location. I thought that you might be interested in the standard press release we have been sending out for our opening day. Keep up the good work!

Poultney, VT September 28th, 2012-

Blu - Bin, Inc will be opening the doors of its first 3D printshop this Saturday the 29th. Blu - Bin is the first company to offer retail 3D printing design and creation services, and is excited to be introducing this new business model in Vermont. Working against the grain, Blu - Bin employees see 3D printing as a service that can benefit everyone even if they can't afford the printer itself. Founded by Daniel Riley, alumni of Green Mountain College, the business seeks to fill the void left by larger 3D printing companies that have entirely ignored offering retail 3D printing design and creation services.

Customers will be able to order items designed and made in store, as well as providing their own designs for creation as part of a growing catalogue of designs the company has access too. Using a range of rapid manufacturing techniques, Blu - Bin creates a friendly environment for rapid design and creation of what it's customers want. Through these services Blu-Bin seeks to advance the field of 3D printing, bringing it to the forefront in manufacturing and into mainstream American life.

With the first store being opened in Poultney, VT, Blu - Bin inc will be working with students and professors of Green Mountain College to demonstrate and test the capabilities of 3D printing through various unique projects.

Effectively creating an entirely new industry, Blu-Bin predicts a successful future, which will lead to expansion of the company into other cities and towns. Saturday will be the start of what the company hopes to be a bright and successful path towards a future filled with this innovative technology.

[jt92202]

Way cool! I found out about this 3D printer a few years back, they were reproducing tools on it and the tool was exactly like the steel one but plastic. You could use it just as you could the steel on but the plastic one was lighter. My guess is they use this 3D printer at NASA for space but using it for this little girl is way cooler!!

[jmdavis278]

This is the best results of science story I ever read.