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Living.British International School, PHUKET
Students develop a 3D prosthetic limb to help a little girl in Bangkok British International School, Phuket (BISP) IB students Melanie Preen, Michael Larsson and Arsenii Barbashov, should be extremely proud of themselves, having recently made a significant impact on the life of a five-year-old girl living in Bangkok born with amniotic band syndrome causing the loss of her left arm.
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mniotic Band Syndrome, according to Michael Harrison MD, is a rare condition caused by strands of the amniotic sac that separate and entangle digits, limbs, or other parts of the fetus. This constriction can cause a variety of problems depending on where strands are located and how tightly they are wrapped and, in her case, these bands were wrapped around her left arm, causing a significant reduction in the flow of blood, ultimately resulting in a loss of her limb just below the elbow. “Joren, the little girl’s father, contacted me after reading an article in The Phuket News about our students having the capability to 3D Print prosthetics,” said Jonathan Clark, head of ICT & computing at BISP.
With quite a touching altruistic mindset, they shared their thoughts. Michael Larsson stated, “I was extremely happy to be part of this project that could help someone. Around the world, there are people who are put in unfortunate situations, and for several reasons – whether for financial, social or other factors – may not be able to help themselves. So I think it is important that those who do have the resources should help out those who don’t. Considering my interests and hobbies, I saw this project as more of an opportunity rather than an activity. I had the opportunity to both learn from this new experience with 3D printing and some of the 3D designs and also had this opportunity to help someone who needed it. Although we only helped one person, I think it shows that if we really put the time and effort, we could help people all over the world who need it. This project also showed the true capabilities of technology and how this will hopefully be utilised in the future to help more in need, despite some of the disadvantages or concerns.” Student Arsenii Barbashov stated, “Throughout the project, I only had a positive and inspiring experience. Although our group helped only one person, it is still a great achievement for us and our school community as it is well known that the hardest part of every great project is doing the first steps. The perfect reward for completing this project was knowing that we helped to improve someone’s life. Moreover, when you are making a prosthetic arm, you are putting a part of your soul into it, which makes every prosthetic unique. Now reflecting on our project, I think that we, and society as a whole, should be aiming to provide bigger opportunities for everyone and that everyone must be given a chance for success.”
“The team then took charge of the project, working with scale photographs of the girl’s arms to accurately produce a suitable fit, and after much hard work and perseverance to perfect the 3D designs, the students were successful in printing and assembling the arm to the required specifications,” he added. “The BISP team CAS project, involved the creation of a fully functional prosthetic arm, utilising to the fullest extent, the technological opportunities at BISP.” Inspired by the project and his students, Jonathan added, “It has been overwhelmingly satisfying for the students to see images of the girl wearing their 3D Printed creation. Although the family did not wish for the images to be made public, they are extremely grateful to Melanie, Michael and Arsenii, and are thrilled to see their little girl getting used to her new arm.” The Phuket News spoke with the students about their involvement in the project and how it has made an impact on their own lives and future goals.
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