The founder of a 3-D printed prosthetic limb startup in Leicestershire says her company is one step closer to bringing her product to market after submitting two patent applications.

Exphand from Loughborough is officially patent pending.

According to the British Library a pending status is “designed to warn the general public, competitors within your industry and other potential infringers that could copy an invention that they may be liable for damages once the full patent is issued”.

Founder Kate Walker said on Linkedin:

“Almost 2 years, countless emails, many prototypes and a lot of support ExpHand Prosthetics is finally Patent Pending (with not just one but two patent applications!)”

The idea for ExpHand came in 2017 when Kate met a girl called Zoey who was born with below elbow limb loss and had never been offered a prosthetic before. Kate went on to learn that 90% of people who need artificial limbs do not receive it because of a lack of doctors, access and expenses.