Updating body-powered Upper-Limb Prostheses

由于英国主要的上肢截肢者人数相对较少（约9，000人），掌骨公司必须考虑国际市场。假肢销售最常见的是由假肢专家推荐，然后从经销商那里购买设备。因此，掌骨正在寻找开始建立与国际分销商的关系，以及寻找用户信息，可能会有所不同的地区。釉修复是一个分销商总部设在波兰，虽然也有合作伙伴关系，诊所遍布东欧，美国和印度，占世界上最大和不断增长的市场-特别是美国，目前是世界上最大的上肢市场，价值5.44亿美元。他们开发了一个名为I 'AM的创新平台，该平台将大部分假肢服务带到了网上，使假肢师能够简单地输入残肢的测量和3D扫描，从而获得完美的假肢接受腔。这是一种比世界上大多数地区仍在使用的传统铸造工艺更便宜，更快，更环保的系统。他们正在开发产品，以满足仿生风格的新需求，用户可以放心地佩戴，并特别热衷于身体动力设备，因为它们增加了功能。我们生产创新的新假肢手，完全由身体动力，使与Glaze Prosthetics的合作成为最理想的。在这项研究中，我们将测试他们的制造方法，让他们评估我们的产品，甚至找到更多关于该地区假肢用户偏好的信息。这一切都直接进入以下设计过程，确保两家公司在未来能够合作。

As the population of major upper-limb amputees in the UK is relatively small (around 9,000), it is imperative for Metacarpal to look at international markets. Prosthetics sales most commonly are made by recommendation from a prosthetist, who will then purchase the device from a distributor. Therefore, Metacarpal are looking to begin building relationships with international distributors as well as find user information that may vary between regions.Glaze Prosthetics is a distributor based in Poland, although also have partnerships with clinics all over Eastern Europe, the USA and India, which account for the world's largest and growing markets - particularly the USA which is currently the world's largest market with the upper limb sector valued at $544 million. They have developed an innovative platform called I'AM which brings much of the prosthetics services online, enabling prosthetists to simply enter in measurements and a 3D scan of the residual limb, resulting in a perfectly fitting prosthetic socket. This is a far cheaper, quicker and eco-friendly system than the traditional casting process that is still used in most of the world. They are developing products which meet the new demand for bionic style that users can feel confident wearing and are particularly enthusiastic about body-powered devices due to their increased functionality.We produce innovative new prosthetic hands that are entirely body-powered, making a partnership with Glaze Prosthetics most ideal. Within the study working together we will test out their manufacture methods, have our product evaluated by them and even find more information on the preferences of prosthesis users in this region. This all feeds directly into the following design process ensuring that the two companies can work together in the future.