How artificial hands became a source of pride and 3D technology became a source for social change

I had the opportunity to meet Eric Dijkhuis when he was visiting Seattle as part of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. He shared his story of how he and Fernando Vallese created a non-profit to create affordable prosthetics for children and teens, overcoming technological and financial obstacles that would be daunting to any entrepreneur.

I didn’t have anything to take notes on at the time, so I am sharing this account from enablingthefuture.org:

In early 2014, medical student Eric Dijkhuis and electronic engineer Fernando Vallese, both from Paraguay, found themselves on the enablingthefuture.org website and explored the e-NABLE Community Google+ group where approximately 200 volunteers (now over 6500!) had started gathering and planning ways in which they were going to “change the world” with 3D printed hands. The pair immediately volunteered to be translators and volunteers for the community with the aim to extend e-NABLE’s work into their home country and eventually their non-profit, Po Paraguay, was born.

As it turns out, in Paraguay fewer than 1% of people that need a prosthetic can actually get one.

Dijkhuis and Vallese researched the problem and discovered three major barriers:

• Cost – prosthetic hands typically cost upwards of $10,000 and few could afford them
• Distance – most of the population lives far from locations where prosthetics are typically measured and fitted, and few could afford the time and cost to get there
• Time – the entire process to be fitted for a prosthetic is a lengthy one

Cost was the biggest barrier, so Po Paraguay focused on solving this first. They used 3D printing technology to produce high quality customized prosthetics, called Po’s.

This brought the cost down to about $120 for those who can afford to pay. For those who cannot, Po Paraguay also gives Po’s out for free, through donor support and crowdfunding from their campaign on Indiegogo’s Generosity site.

To solve the distance and time problem Po Paraguay eventually wants to locate prosthesis production closer to where people live, once consistent quality can be assured.

I thought it was pretty amazing that Dijkhuis and Vallese could get around the cost problem, particularly in country where there are few 3D printers, and a fairly undeveloped startup community for that matter.

But the most inspiring aspect of this story, for me, revolves around product design. Instead of assuming children and teens would want to feel “less disabled”, and to fit in with their peers, the founders listened to potential Po recipients and learned that they actually felt empowered by their new hands, and wanted them to stand out. So instead of designing Po’s to look “natural”, the Po’s became pink princess hands, glow-in-the-dark hands, even Iron Man hands.

With 3D printing, a non-profit business model, and some creativity, virtually anyone who needs a prosthetic will someday be able to get one – and love the result.

3 inspiring innovation lessons from Po Paraguay:

• Po Paraguay identified and tackled the barriers of prosthetic cost, distance, and time, to address the whole problem from the point of view of prosthetic recipients and their families. They approached the question with their heads and their hearts.

• They combined crowdsourcing, an emerging technology and a non-profit business model to overcome their technological and financial challenges.

• They invited recipients to use their fertile imaginations to design their own hands.

Dijkhuis told me their Po’s are built out of the same material used to produce Legos, which I find strangely fitting.

What innovations have inspired you lately? Feel free to comment and share with any organization looking to improve their innovation capabilities.

This post was originally published by the Marketing Executive Network Group.

Lisa Fernow with Professor Barbara Sorg, holding a brain. Photo courtesy of Kristi Marchbanks.

For the last two years, I have been attending a really fascinating monthly program in Seattle, called the Science & Technology Discovery Series, which has really helped me develop my own innovation mindset.  The series is designed for business and community leaders who want to stay abreast of important advancements being made in Washington state, nationally, and internationally.  Speakers are experts in their fields and have included Nobel laureates and National Academy of Sciences members.

Recently I had the pleasure to hear Barbara Sorg, Professor at the Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience at Washington State University-Vancouver.   She has worked in the area of drug abuse on NIH-funded projects for over 22 years, focusing on the contribution of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to cocaine-induced behaviors.

In other words, what happens to brains on drugs.

Perineuronal Nets, Memory, and Why They Matter

Perineuronal Net (PNN), in red, surrounding a nerve cell. Photo source: James M. Massey, et al., The Journal of Neuroscience 2006, 26(16): 4406-4414

As I understand it, one effect of cocaine use is that perineuronal nets form around neurons, helping to solidify and protect the pleasurable drug-related memories―the feeling of being high, the physical environment, and visual cues like rolled up dollar bills, mirrors, and razor blades.

Turns out it’s possible to disrupt and diminish just these recalled memories with pharmacological agents which can potentially help a whole lot of people get off drugs.  You can easily imagine how this might someday help people with other addictions.

But it also got me thinking, perhaps in a demented way:  I wonder how this applies to shopping?

Professor Sorg ended the presentation by offering to let each of us hold a real human brain in our (rubber-gloved) hands.  Only a handful of us accepted her invitation.

The experience fell somewhere between eeeuw and whoa but one thing’s for sure―I’m not likely to forget it.

How This Feeds Your Innovation Mindset

The Science and Discovery Series offers a forum for sharing discoveries and an opportunity for people from different backgrounds to interact. Almost everyone I met acknowledged that they came to this series to learn about something completely outside their normal worlds.  Experiences like these feed the innovation mindset.

I am not exactly sure how learning about brains on drugs will help me do a better job of creating more memorable retail customer experiences, but I do know a fresh idea will surface in time.

Key Innovation Mindset Takeaways

Whether or not you are able to take advantage of a similar program, to feed your innovation mindset, look for opportunities to:

1. Learn about foundational discoveries that could eventually affect your industry so you can be primed and ready to apply them when the time comes.
2. Build relationships with curious people in unrelated fields―you never know when a networking contact might someday lead to a cross-border partnership.
3. Immerse yourself in a completely foreign subject to flex your zero-to-sixty learning muscles.
4. Get your hands dirty, literally, to experience new ideas viscerally and memorably.

What innovations have inspired you lately?  Is your innovation mindset primed?

This post was originally published by MENG, the indispensable community of executive level marketers who share their passion and expertise to ensure each member’s success.