Meghana has relied on two mentors to help her with the learning process: her father, Dr. Joseph Reddy, a gastroenterologist; and Mohan Krishnan, a family friend who is an engineering and management consultant for the Department of Defense. "In the beginning, I didn't know how the hand actually functioned and my dad helped me learn all about that. Mr. Krishnan has helped me get up to speed on the 3D printer hardware and software," said Meghana. "Their medical and engineering sides are the perfect combination for what I'm trying to do."
It takes between 12 to 22 hours to print and then one to two hours to assemble each prosthetic. "It's getting smoother because as you learn more, you know how to fix your own mistakes. I've gotten faster and better at that." One of the benefits of a 3D printed prosthetic is the low cost. Nancee Lewis Photography
After completing the hands for the two orphans she met over the summer, Meghana established Limbs with Love, a nonprofit with the mission "to provide children and adults around the world with prosthetic limbs free of cost through 3D printing technology."
"Every client has a unique limb and I use open-source 3D printer software to modify each piece based on the size of the wrist or the remaining parts of their hand."
Krishnan said Meghana's biggest challenge is learning how to troubleshoot the 3D printer herself.
Limbs with Love has partnered with three organizations in India that funnel the requests for prosthetics. "We now have a process where they take the recipient's measurements, send that to us and then we make the prosthetic and mail it back to India," said Meghana.
Meghana Reddy creates artificial hands on a 3D printer for a total cost of $35 per prosthetic. Traditional prosthetics cost anywhere between $3,000 to $50,000.
According to the sophomore, approximately 80 percent of the components of her prosthetics are made with a 3D printer. "It's basically a puzzle you have to put together since all of the pieces are printed separately." Adding to the puzzle's complexity are the different variations and modifications needed in each case. 36
"We've got it down to $35 per prosthetic. This makes it appealing both domestically and internationally and especially for children who need new hands every two years."
"These personal 3D printers are like early computers. They break down and break down often," he said.
Krishnan takes pride in how much Meghana has learned. "Doing this highly technical work is not easy or something that is given to her. She has to learn by making mistakes and she never gives up." The third hand she made went to a UCLA student who contacted her through the limbswithlove.org website. "When he put on his hand, I was one of the happi-