Prosthetic device designed by girl scouts lets finger-less girl write again

A team of girl scouts from Iowa recently snagged the FLL (FIRST Lego League) Global Innovation award with their winning invention – a prosthetic device that lets children with no fingers write again. The girl scouts, aged 11-13 came up with the invention that helped a 3-year old girl who was born without fingers in her right hand write again.

The device, called BOB-1, is a platform strapped to an arm with a cylindrical holder that can be used to hold a pen, pencil, or similar tool. With the device attached to her hand, the 3 year old girl was able to write again, without having to go through the hassle of relearning how to write with her other hand. The girl scouts employed the help of a prosthetics maker and an occupational therapist to come up with the design. The FLL award, gives the girls up to $20,000 to patent the invention which they have applied for.

Who knows if we’ll be seeing this device in the market but it’s nice to see young kids putting their minds to good use – what will they think of next?

George Wong
Categories: Gadgets