Harakeke fibre could be used to create 3D-printed prosthetic limbs, helping them become more wearable, according to engineer and NPM researcher, Dr Mahonri Owen.
Mahonri is supported by a NPM Matakitenga grant with the hope that the research will help solve the issue of why so many people reject their prosthetics.
Mahonri says more than a third of people suffering limb loss end up rejecting their artificial replacement. Given that artificial hands can cost between US$40,000 to $100,000 to create, this is a situation he wants to remedy.
Mahonri says Māori have a high number of people who are missing limbs due to higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, as well as a higher proportion working in dangerous jobs. People reject artificial limbs for a variety of reasons and one is due to a lack of connection with the substitute limb. “People have reported that they don’t like wearing prosthetic limbs because they feel no sense of belonging to the limb,” he says. Other reasons for not using limbs include a lack of functionality and comfort which are also aspects he will explore.
“My research is delving deeper into understanding people’s attitudes and why Māori may feel a sense of alienation from these devices. We know everything has a whakapapa and a mauri and so I wondered if we could create a prosthetic limb with materials that had been grown on our own whenua, such as harakeke. Perhaps then the limb might become more meaningful, and these devices would be more readily accepted.”
Before the 3D-printing process starts, Mahonri and the research team are holding wānanga with people who use assisted technology on their bodies to understand what their perspectives are. The wānanga will include people who use artificial limbs, those with cochlear implants, and those with glasses.
Raranga practitioners will also be invited to provide guidance on the appropriateness of creating prosthetics out of harakeke. Mahonri says the process of preparing harakeke for 3D-printing is much like harvesting for raranga. After the muka is removed, it is chopped into small fibres and then mixed with a corn starch 3D-printing filament. Between 10 – 30% of the final filament mix used for 3D-printing will be harakeke.
Infusing harakeke with the polymer has the added benefit of increasing tensile strength which will improve functionality, he says. Mahonri hopes this research will be helpful for all people who suffer limb loss - not just Māori. “It also has potential for other Indigenous peoples who might want to use their own plants to make 3D-printed limbs, or it could be used in war torn countries with have high rates of limb loss,” he says.
Mahonri says 3D printing technology is particularly beneficial because it can create individualized solutions from a relatively inexpensive and small machine. “People can now have 3D printers sitting on their desks at work,” he says.
Mahonri and the team at Te Kura Rau Mahara, based at the University of Waikato, will be looking at all aspects of improving prosthetic functionality. Their research will include the creation of a brain-controlled prosthetic hand. “Neural prosthetics - the hands that our students make - will be controlled by a headset or muscles, and eventually it is hoped harakeke will be part of the eventual printing process.”
This research has seen the team combine the use of mātauranga with Western approaches to innovate and find new neural solutions. “Using pūrākau, such as the origin story of Hineahuone, guides us to understand a different way of thinking about interactions within the brain that might be helpful neurologically,” he says.
“In some ways Māori frameworks align with current neuroscience, which is cool, even though they both come from very different places. Using Māori frameworks doesn’t take away from neuroscience, it gives another perspective of how we might want to look at the brain and come up with possible solutions to problems,” says Mahonri.
He believes there is a lot of scope and potential for engineers to take a more holistic approach that is inclusive of Indigenous knowledges. “We engineers are supposed to get as many perspectives as we can to deliver better outcomes. Personally, I have deliberately worked across different fields of science including robotics, biomechanics, health and neuroscience because I believe we can be more innovative when we collaborate.”
“It has been hugely advantageous to me to use all knowledge systems to solve problems, including that of the hard sciences, across to the social sciences, as well as Indigenous perspectives,” says Mahonri.