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Life

Innovative prostheses offer hope on Thai-Myanmar border

3D-printed replacement arms change lives amid raging conflict

Thein Soe, 56, is pictured with his new 3D-printed prosthetic arm at his house in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Jan. 25. (All photos by Valeria Mongelli)

MAE SOT, Thailand -- In a small workshop in western Thailand, Aung Tin Tun puts the finishing touches to a plastic hoop created by a 3D printer. Filing a stubborn barb of filament, he explains that the hoop will be the grip of a prosthesis that can be attached to a garden hoe, allowing a local grandfather who lost his arm in a chaff cutter to loosen soil and grow vegetables.

"I want to be an arm for people who need one," says the 39-year-old 3D printing manager. "Everything comes from their ideas and feedback."

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