There is a plea for more video documentation in articles about polymer prints of 3D-computer-aided-design (CAD)-(re-)constructed prosthetics. Our journal, Prosthesis, provides a platform for this that could lead to a better understanding of mechanisms of action and identify the pros and cons of the presented prototype.
Given the hype that has been evoked over the last 500 years by the two different, mechanically interesting artificial “Iron Hands” from knight Götz von Berlichingen (1480–1562) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10], who lost his right hand during the Landshut War of Succession in 1504, a video demonstration of the recently reconstructed and 3D-printed polymer replica (Figure 1) could shed some more light on how craftsmen of former times developed valuable aids for everyday use by persons with disabilities.
Figure 1.
A 3D-printed polymer replica of the first “Iron Hand” of Götz von Berlichingen. From [10], © 2020 by A. Otte. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Accessed on 12 May 2025). (a) General view of the artificial prosthetic hand; (b) view after the removal of the lateral chassis cover with insight into the mechanics.
During his time in his sickbed, Götz was already thinking about replacing his hand artificially and commissioned a gunsmith to build the first “Iron Hand”. In this prosthesis, the artificial thumb and two finger blocks (index and middle finger or ring finger and little finger) could be moved in their basic joints by a spring-loaded mechanism and released by a push button; thereby, the thumb moves synchronously in the opposing direction to the movement of the first finger block (Figure 2) [10].
Figure 2.
Mechanism of the first “Iron Hand” with the opposing thumb: CAD simulation; Autodesk Inventor (Autodesk Inc., Dublin, Ireland).
Despite the figures shown, at this stage of the present article, it is only vaguely possible to foresee what opportunities the prosthesis in question offers to the user. In a previous review of the 3D-printed polymer replica of the first “Iron Hand”, some photographs were shown in everyday situations (Figure 3). However, in our opinion, valuable information remains missing that can only be understood from a video demonstration, which is added available via the link in the Supplementary Materials (Video S1).
Figure 3.
Photographs of the replica in different everyday situations, from left to right: holding a handle of a barbecue, a handle of a garden hose, a branch of a peach tree, and a peach. From [10], © 2020 by A. Otte. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
It is up to the reader to now decide the value that such a video demonstration may provide.
Supplementary Materials
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/prosthesis7030054/s1, Video S1: video demonstration of the mechanism of the replica (sequence 1), video demonstration of the replica in different everyday situations (sequences 2 and 3).
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).