The REBEL Difference
Be REBELlious!
When your team has decades of experience in the upper limb market and has been a part of launching 3 of the leading hands in the global market, you have to ask…why design a fourth?
The answer is very simple, and comes from what makes an engineer, the desire & drive to improve things and make things that make people’s lives better!
For far too long upper limb myoelectric hand manufacturers have focused on features over function, larger than life promises, and mainly serving a population that has a variety of options.
At REBEL, we looked at what was missing – high end aesthetics, waterproof, smaller sizes, and addressing the needs of an under-served population.
Why REBEL?
- Prosthetic hands have reached design convergence
- Devices are only worn periodically and often rejected due to excessive weight
- Feature creep has made devices heavier and more complex and ultimately unreliable
- Clinical evidence indicates existing solutions fall short of meeting users’ need
- There is a need for an affordable way to resize/adjust
Get to know the REBEL hand
STRONG
Plastic is an amazing material, but it has no place in myoelectric multi-articulating hand designs.
This is not because it can’t deliver a strong grip, it can. But plastic can’t cope with the day to day accidents which happen to us all.
Because we know the goal of a prosthesis is to allow a user to return to their activities of daily living and being able to complete tasks such as opening a car door or picking up a deceptively heavy bag without worry, the REBEL digits and dorsal fairing are made from high strength aluminum, which is light yet strong.
Our custom coating is also incredibly hard wearing!
LIGHT
Most user’s first interaction with a bionic hand is almost always followed by the statement “Gosh, it’s kind of heavy.” This is often followed by the answer “It’s about the same weight as a human hand.” And the user just has to accept that.
While the answer may be true, a sound hand is connected to the rest of your body, where a prosthetic hand is on the outside of your body, hence the weight is a lot more noticeable.
Weight is imperative if these devices are going to be used, and are going to be useful!
With ideas taken from motorsports, we have taken a very novel approach to weight reduction rather than thinking, “what is the lightest material we can make this from?”
FUNCTIONAL
It has been really exciting to see the development in upper limb prosthetics over the last 15 years. Multi-grip hands, pattern recognition, touch sensors, etc. Although these functions and features can be massively useful, we [the engineers] have gotten carried away with thinking “wouldn’t it be amazing if…”
At REBEL we take a different approach. We want the hand to become an obvious tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver, objects which make life easier. If it’s not a function that will get used every day it goes in the trash.
With that in mind, we have limited the variety of grips we can deliver to reduce the motor count, but from feedback over the years we have ensured that our hand comes with an integrated flex wrist – this is a feature we feel all hands should have.
STYLISH
Hands in general are highly visible and used for most activities, so why not think of your prosthetic hand like you would a Rolex watch or a Hermes bag? Show it off, and know that it’s not just a pretty thing, but a dedicated tool as well.
We want people to think “WOW!”
REBEL hands are built from premium materials which allow them to look good not only when they come out of the box for the first time, but also 12 months, or 13 years later!
Meet our team of REBELS behind this important cause.
Mr Ted Varley
Prof. Kia Nazarpour
