Massapequa Park Native Among Hartford Classmates to Create First-of-Its-Kind Prosthetic Hand

HARTFORD, CT - Five graduate students from the Prosthetics and Orthotics program at the University of Hartford, including Massapequa Park native Steve Sousa, recently worked together to create the ‘Hartford Hand’, the world’s first prosthetic hand that can be fully customized to patients’ needs.

The project recently reached an important milestone-the prototype is ready to be tested on patients.

Currently, amputees have a limited selection of sizes and designs for a prosthetic hand.

The Hartford Hand was designed to allow each patient to get a custom-made hand that fits his or her exact needs and can be adjusted as the patient grows.

Each week, Sousa and classmates spend several hours improving the current design to make the unique Hartford Hand a reality for patients.

“This is a good chance for students to train on cutting-edge technology,” Assistant Professor Michael Wininger, who is guiding the students through the project, said.