IN Upper St. Clair Fall 2017 | Page 27

Helping Hands

BY MATTHEW HYATT
Using myoelectric signals , a circuit board and a smartphone , USC student Matthew Hyatt along with mentors Adam Riddle and Dan Arnett have engineered an affordable 3D printed prosthetic hand .
Dan Arnett tests out the bebionic at Hanger Clinic .

The cost for the newest generation lightweight prosthetic hand , such as a bebionic , is $ 90,000 . Adam Riddle , a 25-year-old computer programmer born without his right hand due to a congenital deformity , says , “ The cheaper options are often heavier and not as easy to maneuver .” And , since the cost of a bebionic isn ’ t covered for Riddle , he had chosen not to wear a prosthetic device — until now . Today , Riddle has a working hand . The total cost : $ 728.84 . Fifteen-year-old Matthew Hyatt , who is interested in a career as a robotics engineer , met Riddle through Dan Arnett , a programming mentor for Matthew ’ s robotics team and research assistant in the Carnegie Mellon University robotics program . Since Matthew was looking to work on an outside project to enhance his programming , building and computer-aided design ( CAD ) skills , Arnett suggested they build a hand for Riddle .

To start their research , they attended a Hanger Clinic physicians ’ workshop about upper limb prosthetics taught by Branden Petersen , an upper limb specialist from New York .
Dan Arnett Adam Riddle and Matt Hyatt at Hanger Clinic .
Continued on next page >
Upper St . Clair | Fall 2017 | icmags . com 25