e-NABLE is a global network of volunteers who are using their 3D printers, design skills, and personal time to create free 3D printed prosthetic hands for those in need  – with the goal of providing them to underserved populations around the world.

When the e-NABLE community first began in 2013, it consisted of about 300 people who owned 3D printers or who had design skills to share – that wanted to help improve the first open sourced design for 3D printed hands that had been released online. They simply wanted to use their machines to help to print and assemble free 3D printed prosthetic devices to anyone that reached out to them.

A year and a half later, the “matching system” now has over 1000 recipients in various stages and 3000 registered volunteers. This has grown from around 200 of each in May of last year. There are over 30 middle and high schools who are currently printing hands for recipients.Now there are volunteers printing in dozens of countries and the numbers grow.

So far, the e-NABLE community has been able to sustain itself on the sheer goodness of the hearts of volunteers who are spending countless hours answering emails, connecting families and makers, printing, assembling, traveling hundreds of miles to do custom fittings or teach others how to assemble these devices, spending their own earnings to purchase materials and paying for shipping costs to get 3D printed hands on those who are waiting patiently for their very own “Super Hero Hand.”

“Our hope is that through our newly formed Enable Community Foundation – we can gather donations from those that do not have 3D printers themselves, but who continually ask how they can help in some small way.”

The Enable Community Foundation’s wish is that it can also internationalize the website and resources pages so that the files and information will be readily available to people of many languages and to provide mini-grants for projects like providing shipping costs for mailing large numbers of hands created in “Build-a-thons” – to clinics in places like Haiti, Mexico and hospitals in war zones.

More special events like the “Prosthetists Meets Printers” conference at John’s Hopkins Medical Center last September will be held, where e-Nable was able to educate medical professionals about 3D printed prosthetics and teach over 25 families how to assemble devices for their own children.

e-NABLE global network, picture from the webiste http://enablingthefuture.org/

If you would like to contribute and also share the message with others by purchasing an e-NABLE t-shirt. Every little bit helps to keep providing free 3D printed prosthetics to people in need.

If you are unable to contribute financially but still want to help – sharing the stories and the website on social media channels helps parents and recipients to find e-Nable and your simple share on Facebook or Twitter can ultimately lead to a child receiving a new hand and contribute to the growing number of Super Hero Cyborgs roaming the earth!

Get more information, stories, donating details on the oficial website of e-NABLE.

Tip: More up to date educational events dealing with healthcare can be found online on the Education Database »medicine & health«.