Metacarpal make fully body-powered yet bionic, prosthetic hands with zero electronics. The functionality of the prosthetics is fully generated by the user, giving the most intuitive and practical operation.
Challenge
While foot and leg prosthetics have been incredibly successful at restoring the functional and psychological needs of amputees, the same cannot be said for hand devices. The NHS estimates 26-45% of upper-limb amputees wear no prosthetic at all. Current devices and development have focused on complex robotic solutions, which are only working for a small group of people.
Metacarpal has come up with an entirely new type of device, which will be the first bionic hand that’s solely powered and controlled through body motion; much simpler and more practical. The team required funding and expertise to develop their prototype and therefore applied to the Higgs Centre Business Incubation Centre (Higgs BIC) to help achieve this.
Solution
During their incubation period, Metacarpal had access to industry-level expertise and worked closely with technicians to develop the product and create the necessary components required. Furthermore, the business expertise available at the Higgs Centre through business support workshops and coaching assisted the team with relevant marketing plans and financials, including how to effectively approach and communicate with investors.
Benefits
Metacarpal joined the Higgs BIC in May 2022 as a team of one and graduated the programme as a team of five, a real demonstration of the business’ growth over the incubation period.
Metacarpal are hoping to expand the team further and has since launched the product on the US market, with UK sales beginning shortly also.
The Metacarpal GEM Hand was awarded Best in Show in this year’s New Product Showcase at AOPA. By having this new technology applied to prosthetics, Metacarpal are at the forefront of innovative strategies that will advance the wider medical community.
“The support at Higgs BIC came at what became a crucial point in Metacarpal’s growth: we were just finding our feet, hiring our first staff and creating prototypes that were built for real users every day. This incubator gave me the time that I needed to step by step set up the business for growth.”
Fergal Mackie, Founder, Metacarpal
