Man who cut off his pinky while drunk 20 years ago FINALLY gets a 3D printed finger

A Nebraska man who chopped off his pinky with a power tool while drinking 20 years ago has finally got a new finger using modern technology.

Adam Cutshall, 47, received a 3D-printed finger from a New York City-based company several thousand dollars below the insurance company’s $20,000 price tag.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Cutshall said he was building a miniature golf course for his son when the tool slipped and severed the top part of his finger.

“I was drunk, which wasn’t unusual for me until late. Power tools and alcohol don’t mix well,” he told PEOPLE.

Paul Hodara, 69, the creator of the prosthesis, spent four months customizing the device for Cutshall, and after 20 prototypes, the pair found a perfect match — and it was free for Cutshall.

A Nebraska man who chopped off his pinky with a power tool while drinking 20 years ago has finally gotten a finger using modern technology

“It was a learning curve, but they have an ability that blows my mind and printed me a new finger for thousands of dollars less than what I was offered,” Cutshall shared in a Reddit post.

“This technology will change the industry.”

In his Reddit post, he also noted that he is sober today.

Cutshall posted on Reddit in 2020 asking if users are experienced 3D printers in hopes that a new finger could be designed for him.

The news was then spotted by Hodara, who used existing plans of a prosthetic – but adapted it to Cutshall.

The finished prosthesis flexes like a finger and features texturing at the tip for gripping.

Hodara used a Prusa i3 MK3S printer to create the device, which should last for several years.

“We went on a journey together – we designed a new model, sent him revisions every week, had him give feedback on those revisions – until we got to a stage where we had a prototype that worked well for him,” he said he to PEOPLE.

Paul Hodara, 69, the creator of the prosthesis, spent four months customizing the device for Cutshall, and after 20 prototypes,

The prosthesis has also undergone rigorous testing to ensure its flexibility

According to the Amputee Coalition, there are nearly two million people with limb loss in the United States alone, and many of these individuals cannot afford the high cost of prosthetics.

“I don’t find anything wrong with the medical industry, but I think there are alternatives now and 3D printing will open up whole new channels to bring affordable devices to market,” Hodara told PEOPLE.

That incredible moment was followed by another when a young woman became the first person in the world to receive a 3D printed ear from her own cells.

The 20-year-old, known as Alexa from Mexico, was born with a rare birth defect that causes the outer part of the ear to be small and misshapen.

Doctors hope transplantation will “revolutionize” medicine by developing a treatment for people with microtia.

The rare congenital condition in which one or both outer ears are incomplete can also impair hearing.

dr Arturo Bonilla, a pediatric ear surgeon in San Antonio, removed half a gram of cartilage from Alexa’s microtia ear remnant and then shipped it along with a 3D scan of her healthy ear to 3DBio Therapeutics in Long Island City, Queens.

While the final version has texture to grip, one of the approved prototypes was a toothbrush head on the end

That incredible moment was followed by another when a young woman became the first person in the world to receive a 3D printed ear from her own cells

Once there, the woman’s chondrocytes – cells responsible for forming cartilage – were isolated from the tissue sample and cultured with nutrients to turn them into billions of cells.

These cells are mixed with collagen-based bio-ink and shaped into an outer ear after being inserted into a specialized 3D bio-printer with a syringe.

The implant is encased in a printed, biodegradable sleeve to provide early support, but which will be absorbed by the patient’s body over time.

Over time, the implanted ear is meant to mature, develop the natural look and feel, including elasticity, of a normal ear and be a mirror image replica of the patient’s healthy ear.

The entire printing process took less than 10 minutes.