It began on a drive home to Lincoln from Omaha. Dr. Jorge Zuniga, professor in exercise science at Creighton University since August of 2012, was listening to a radio program on mechanical hands. His dream of making prosthetic hands for children that are compatible in athletics became a passion this past summer.
“I heard this stuff and I thought ‘oh that’s a neat idea; it’s pretty cool,” Zuniga said. “I started playing baseball with my son, and [he] has a tremendous arm.”
It was this playful period that led Zuniga to seriously begin thinking about what he could do.
“I saw his face so full of joy and had a flashback to my childhood and my friend that had four fingers,” Zuniga said. “It’s funny, baseball wasn’t popular in Chile, but now I know the guy just wanted to throw a ball and couldn’t do it. Because he couldn’t do it, he wanted to play baseball.”
Between being thankful that his 4 and a half year old son could actively participate in sports and considering those he had know that couldn’t, Zuniga began plans to start working on his own prosthetic hands that could be used in sports.
The general research and work on prosthetic arms and hands is alive throughout the world, and Zuniga contacted those who were doing this kind of work to learn what he could, and to see if anyone would be interested in working with him.
After contacting an inventor in South Africa, he learned what he needed to turn these ideas into tangible products. He would need a three dimensional printer, which he had been told could cost $1,500 to utilize but this did not stop him. He kept contacting others, and, after speaking with Michael Churney in Creighton’s physics department, learned he could have access to printers in which he would only have to pay for the materials, which was around $60.
“I had a vision, and I said, ‘yeah, let’s do this’,” Zuniga said.
It was at this point that he began discussions internally within his department chair to fill them in on his goal.
“Imagine that scenario,” he said. “My research is muscle function, and I got three NASA grants for the things I do, and I say, ‘you know, I need money for the printer,’ ‘the printer for what?’ ‘The three dimensional printer,’ and they said ‘okay, you [are going to] build solid objects in 3D.’ He understood it.”
Although not knowing how Zuniga’s project would relate to his normal research, the department was behind him as he began to really work on this project. Despite having two other projects dominate most of his time, he puts whatever time is leftover whole-heartedly into his work on the prosthetic hands. Since his preliminary purchases of materials and using other’s printers, he has been able to get his own three-dimensional printer to use in his own lab.
Zuniga is baffled at how fast his project has picked up steam. After receiving a letter from Arts & Sciences Dean Bridget Keegan congratulating him on his grants from NASA, he sent her a picture of him, his son and the prosthetic hands, showing her what he was working on now. She responded with more than kind words, but additional funding.
The research he has been able to do since beginning this project has brought a lot to light about what he is trying to accomplish. He has become part of a web community of people working towards similar efforts, has been contacted by major companies, like Google, looking to learn more, and has recently been contacted by families interested in what he is doing.
What comes after research is the actual producing—and learning the most effective way to produce—the prosthetic hands. Zuniga’s goals are to make them as lightweight as possible, specific to children and functional in sports — which is what sets his work apart from others. He designs the hands based off of drawings, and hopes those drawings come to life through the three dimensional printer. The hands are made from recycled plastic, made from cornstarch.
Two families — one from Ohio and one from Indiana— both have young children with hand defects and are looking for answers in prosthetics.
“[They] said ‘could you make one for my son? He would like to try them out’,” Zuniga said. “It wasn’t my intention to give it away to people, I just wanted to do the research. I mean, they are not 100 percent functional yet, but what are you going to do, say no?”
That attitude is at the base of Zuniga’s work— to help people in need. The funding, in part, takes care of the financial burden for the parents. These hands are not covered by insurance, and Zuniga does not want the families to pay for them. If it came down to it and he no longer received funding, he would use his own money.
“If I lose my job for doing what I think is right so be it,” Zuniga said. “My intention is to do the shake and balance—basically give them for free, so I can take some of those people that can’t pay for it can come to me. If I have to beg for money, I will do that.”
The free aspect of his work stems not only from giving away the physical components for no charge, but also the source code. Zuniga released this information online, so everyone could have access to the plans Zuniga has.
“If it comes down to it, I will use my own money. I am so into this that I am not going to say no to people. No way,” Zuniga said.
Zuniga, according to his students, is humble, and just wants to help people. It is this attitude that his students said sets him apart from other professors at Creighton. Nicole Dempsey, an Arts & Sciences junior majoring in exercise science, said that she, upon learning about Zuniga’s undertaking, was very touched.
“[Dr. Zuniga] told us in class and was very passionate about this and sparked interest in me,” Dempsey said.
Her interest led her to think about what it was that Zuniga was doing, and what made it important.
“I found [it] interesting that no one in the world had thought about creating a sport hand for kids,” Dempsey said. “I just think that since we are in the 21st century that this technology has been out there, but no one had thought about it or cared enough to take time to research this.
“Most prosthetic research is for adults, and kids research is mostly basic functions, but his is specifically designed for kids to be able to play sports and that’s kind of what every kid grows up to be doing is play sports, so [it’s] only natural to create a hand that could equip that.”
Though it seemed to her that this technology was something expected of our time, she was so moved by not only Zuniga’s teaching about this project, but about his overall dedication to teaching and inspiring
his students.
“Everyone had the same reaction,” Dempsey said. “Their jaws just dropped, were emotionally touched by his story and how passionate he was. Everyone left the class talking about it, and eager to help him out.”
Dempsey said Zuniga’s emotional attachment to this project that just started as a hobby and has turned into an all-consuming work has effectively rubbed off on her.
“[It] makes me want to do research, get out there, find my own niche,” Dempsey said. “It makes you respect him more that he is not just teaching it, he’s taking what he’s teaching and using it for the better.
“I am very driven to start research: this was kind of the thing that said ‘I have to start now’ … [it] opened my eyes, let me know that there’s a lot of things out there that I could do,” Dempsey said.
Dempsey is not alone in her feelings of being inspired and driven to do more. Classmate and fellow Arts & Sciences junior Joe Lesnak reacted in a similar fashion when hearing of Zuniga’s research, and specifically when he heard that Zuniga is, essentially, giving it away for free.
“He’s putting it on open source online and he’s not patenting any of it because he doesn’t want the money he just wants to create a hand that’s cheap and inexpensive for kids,” Lesnak said. “I think it’s admirable. He obviously can make money off this, and he even said he doesn’t have a lot of money. It really speaks to his character. He never sleeps and is a really hard worker.”
His students’ emphasis on Zuniga’s hard work and determination bode well with what Zuniga hopes is to come of his research and project. Even though it is taking flight, there is still a ways to go.
“Imagine what can happen in a year, just imagine that,” Zuniga said. “I am being recognized by the people working on this, the inventors have been great. [It’s] the reasons they do that I am one step ahead of them.
“I have about five guys that help me here every Friday. They question my ideas, they have different backgrounds. PT, OT, physics; we make a lot of progress,” Zuniga said.
Even though Zuniga cannot devote as much time to this project as he would like-he said he doesn’t sleep more than four hours a night-the time that he does have to work on it drives him to look towards the future.
“We don’t have to make it like a regular hand: it isn’t,” he said. “It’s for kids, make it fun and functional. That’s my job here.”
“Imagine in the future you have a family and your kid is missing a finger, you may have the resource, but what if you don’t? By putting the files up there, I am giving them control. They can have it made, or they can ask me to do it and I will, and if one doesn’t work, we will make another one and another one and another one until it works.”
Zuniga has dreams beyond what is happening with his research right now, like helping stroke patients, people with finger deformations and spasticity. Zuniga believes that his work in teaching as well as research coincides parallel with the goal of Creighton as a whole, encompassing all that he is doing into one package.
“It’s a change of mentality,” he said. “That’s the point of a university and it goes along with our mission to help others.”
Dr. Jorge Zuniga, professor in exercise science, uses a three dimensonal printer which helps him turn his ideas for prosthetic hands into reality. The 3D printer originally cost $1,500 to use, but he now only pays for materials, which are around $60.
DR. JORGE ZUNIGA
Exercise Science Professor
Zuniga works on his model of prosthetic hands for children, which are compatible in athletics. He hopes to make them free for families whose children need them.
Dr. Zuniga demonstrates how to use his three dimensional printer. Funding from the science departments has helped him use the printer. Any additional funding that he may need he will pay for out of pocket, and says he will, since he is committed to helping those in need.