Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Creighton graduate and faculty member recognized for major prosthetic advances

Not many people are aware that a small lab in Nebraska is at the forefront of 3D printing prosthetic evolution.

Dr. Jorge Zuniga, Director of Creighton University’s 3D Research & Innovation Laboratory and his research lab assistant, Creighton alum Adam Carson, received AIM Tech awards for the major prosthetic advances they’ve made. 

Zuniga says standard devices are typically expensive, heavy, and not customizable.  He says he and his staff specialize in making low-cost 3D printed prosthetic devices for children. 

Zuniga says making prosthetic devices for children is a challenge because they grow out of them quickly, and that can be expensive for parents.

"We use computer aided software to develop a three dimensional image of the device.  Once we have the model done we go ahead and send the model to a 3D printer where we manufacture a three dimensional object.”

Zuniga says the printer melts plastic in thin layers, putting one on top of the other on a building platform to form a three dimensional object. 

He says since plastic doesn’t cost much, the cost of the printed prosthetics is much lower. For example, a 3D printed shoulder could cost $200 as opposed to a traditional device which would run around $40,000.