Prosthetics Market - Exiii’s Innovative 3D Printed Myoelectric Hand Awarded Gold at iF Exhibition 2015

Source: Exiii Inc.

With the flow of time, it is no secret that the pace of technological development is gaining speed, with manufacturers and scientists coming up with more unimaginable groundbreaking hi-tech gadgets and devices seemingly with each passing day. 3D printing is on the crest of this wave now, bringing to life the boldest concepts, apt to impress people who have gotten used to this never-ending flow of ideas and their implementations.

While a great many gadgets developed serve merely to entertain, there are a substantial share of novelties being introduced to make our day-to-day life easier. A Japanese company Exiii, for example, has a business devoted to providing hi-tech devices for people who have lost their hands.

Handii is a myoelectric hand of somewhat futuristic appearance, which sets it apart from other artificial hands on the market. Not only is this design unique and forward-looking, it is also customizable, which is extremely rare for prostheses. However, the stunning design is not even the primary attribute of Handii. Myoelectric hands can be controlled by the users intuitively by muscle signals measured on the amputated end.

In contrast with other hands of this type, which are quite costly due to custom built-in computer systems difficult to repair, and a standard design aimed to conceal the lost hand, Handii uses wireless signals from a smartphone that processes muscle signals, and each finger is controlled by only one motor. In addition, produced by a 3D printing technology, Handii is affordable, and easy to repair and personalize.

Winner of the gold iF DESIGN AWARD 2015, Exiii believes that prosthesis should not only replace the lost hand, but it can also perform more functions and be an interface to express the user's personality. It is evident that Handii is more than just a common prosthesis, as it offers innovative design and functionality for an affordable price.

Although these new myoelectric prostheses are likely to grab a large chunk of the market in the future, the current market is still dominated by conventional prostheses. The U.S. remains the leader on the prosthetics market, overtaking the Netherlands in 2014. Last year, the Netherlands exported 1.8 thousand tonnes of artificial parts of the body totaling 2.3 billion USD, 18% over the previous year. Its primary trading partner was Germany, where it supplied 19.5% of its total artificial parts of the body exports in value terms, accounting for 56.5% of Germany's total imports.

From 2008 to 2012, imports insignificantly exceeded exports. However, in 2013-2014, the situation changed and the Netherlands became a net exporter of artificial parts of the body.

The U.S. and Belgium were among the other main global suppliers of artificial parts of the body in 2014. However, the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2014 were the Netherlands (+18.3% per year) and Singapore (+65.7% per year). By virtue of this, the Netherlands significantly strengthened its position in the global export structure.

The Netherlands' top 5 trading partners in 2014 were Germany, France, Italy, China and the United Kingdom, with a combined 50.6% share of the Netherlands' artificial parts of the body exports. The share of Germany increased sharply (+8.7 percentage points), while the share of the U.S. fell precipitously (-30.9 percentage points).

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Source: IndexBox AI Platform