A US toddler with a rare congenital disorder can now lift her arms for the very first time.
Two-year-old Emma was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a condition that limited her ability to move her arms on her own, the Huffington Post reports.
But due to a tiny exoskeleton that was made possible by 3D printing, the toddler now has the strength to pick things up and draw using her "magic arms".
"When she was born, her legs were up by her ears and her shoulders were internally rotated," her mum, Megan Lavelle, said in a video posted online.
As Emma developed, she gained control of her legs and other body parts, but was unable to lift or move her arms.
But then her parents learned about a prototype known as the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), a device enabling people with underdeveloped arms to play and feed themselves.
While the original model was too heavy for the two-year-old, its creators, Tariq Rahman and Whitney Sample from the Nemours Hospital for Children, created a lightweight prosthetic with the help of 3D printers.
"The WREX was attached to a stand and she was able to put her arms into the WREX and for the first time be able to lift her hands up towards her mouth," Mr Rahman said.
Emma now calls WREX prosthetic her "magic arms".
"When she started to express herself we would go upstairs and we would say, 'Emma, we're going to put the WREX on' and she called them her magic arms… everyone in the room cried," Ms Lavelle said.
The toddler is currently on her second WREX, after she outgrew the first.
"It's still growing into this incredible prosthetic that helps her to use her arms," Ms Lavelle said.
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