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We share a personal update and then dive into how injuries, curiosity, and tough feedback shaped a modular myoelectric hand that is lighter, repairable in minutes, and priced for wider access. Ryan Saavedra of Alt-Bionics walks through additive manufacturing choices, PDAC approval, and a roadmap linking prosthetics with humanoid robotics.

• user and clinician pain points shaping design choices 
• modular finger architecture for fast field repairs 
• nylon 12 and MJF for strength, weight, and cost 
• tolerancing to reduce lash and improve reliability 
• pricing philosophy, PDAC approval, and reimbursement nuance 
• EMG control foundations, firmware over AI for stability 
• balancing service bureaus vs in-house manufacturing 
• funding from bootstrap to mission-aligned investors 
• product roadmap focused on hands and higher DoF 
• cross-pollination between prosthetics and robotics

Special thanks to Advanced 3D for sponsoring this episode.

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