You’d Print A Part, But Would You Print A Foot?

Born with just one foot, [Nerraw99] had to work around prosthetics all his life. Finally getting fed up with the various shortcomings of his leather and foam foot, he designed, tweaked, printed and tested his own replacement!

After using Structure Sensor to scan both his feet, [Nerraw99] began tooling around with the model in Blender and 3D printing them at his local fablab/makerspace: MakerLabs. It ended up taking nearly a dozen printed iterations — multiple printing issues notwithstanding — to get the size right and the fit comfortable. Not all of the attempts were useless; one version turned out to be a suitable water shoe for days at the beach!

The triangular structure of the final design keeps the foot rigid, while the Cheetah filament allows for enough flex to be useful. Compared to his old prosthesis, this one lends a far more realistic appearance, and — crucially — minimizes the lopsided gait [Nerraw99] struggled with for years. His heel still slips out, but overall fits better and can be more accurately modified and re-printed if blisters arise.

We always love seeing makers creating their own prosthetics, or putting their skills to work to help others — and animals too!

[Thanks for the tip, Herrgrumps!]

Filed under: 3d Printer hacks, Medical hacks