Upper Intermediate Videoscript

Life
Page 42 Unit 3: 3D-printed prosthetic limbs

Part 1
0.00–0.17 For a girl with no hands, her dexterity is remarkable – her drawing skills on a par
with other kids her age. Charlotte lost both hands and both legs to meningococcal
septicaemia. But hers is not the sad story you might expect.
0.18–0.44 Mother I think some people are surprised when they see her, like, how mobile she
is, and how she can write and draw and … you know, her sort of, the fine motor skills she’s
still got, even without her hands. You know, even though, like I said she’s so independent
and so able, she does need help with things.
Charlotte I do not.
Interviewer You don’t need help?
0.45–0.49 Charlotte Definitely not. This one is my old leg.
0.50–0.59 Interviewer Charlotte shows me the false limbs she’s had so far. Prosthetic legs –
basic, yet do the job, but for hands it’s not so simple.
1.00–1.03 ‘Does it go on this arm or this arm?’ ‘That one.’ ‘That arm. And then this goes
round the back.’
1.04–1.12 This crude hook will be little use as she grows up and has to fend for herself.
Though anything more sophisticated costs the earth.
1.13–1.20 Mother An adult bionic hand was £40,000 for one hand.
1.21–1.27 Interviewer And at the rate children grow, she’d need a new, bigger one every
year.
Part 2
1.28–1.35 But this could be the answer. And at a target price of £1,200, it’s within range of
normal families.
1.36–1.42 Joel Gibbard If I flex my muscles, the hand in response will open and close all of
the fingers.
1.43–1.58 Interviewer First a 3D scan is made using a tablet computer. Then a 3D printer
constructs it bit by bit. For the first time these techniques are being combined to custom-build
a robotic hand.
1.59–2.20 Joel Gibbard At the moment, children are a bit under-served by the prosthetics
industry, in the realms of robotic hands, so this project can really help them, because as a
child grows, they need to have a new prosthetic every year or so, ideally, and that’s where the
cost component really, really helps out.
2.21–2.35 Interviewer It’s still at the prototype stage, but this new advance means that for
Charlotte, a working hand is not far off in the future. The wait now, not decades or years, but
maybe only months. Nick Ravenscroft, Sky News.