The Ottawa Hospital has opened a new medical 3D printing program to make it easier and less expensive to make prosthetic limbs.

David Chasse, who was left with only his thumb on his left hand after a motorcycle crash, is one of the first people to try a 3D-printed prosthetic from the new program.

"I'm able to grab things," he said. "I have everyday trouble grabbing just about anything, even with my other prosthetic."

Chasse said it's particularly difficult to apply the right pressure to grab a water bottle, but with his new prosthetic his fingers grip as he twists his wrist.

David Chasse uses his new 3D printed prosthetic hand to pick up a plastic water bottle. Chasse said it was difficult to use the right amount of pressure to grip with his old prosthetic. (CBC)

"With this new technology, it's only going to get better and better," Chasse said.

Dr. Frank Rybicki, chief of medical imaging at the Ottawa Hospital, said the hospital's new program is all about bringing the best ideas to help patients.

"3D printing has been an emerging technology for some time in other fields, such as aerospace or the automotive field, and now it's coming to medicine," he said.

Cheaper, easier to replace

The 3D printing program, which is the first based in a Canadian hospital, is a partnership with the University of Ottawa.

Sebastian Chavarria received his first 3D printed prosthetic hand from the university's biomedical engineering program last year.

While it was modelled to look like Iron Man's metal gauntlet, it proved to be less durable than the superhero's armour.

"It's because the other one was broken, so I got a new one," Chavarria said, after flexing the fingers on his new red-and-blue Spider-Man hand.

The new technology will make it easier to replace Chavarria's hand as he grows or it gets damaged by child's play.

It will also be much less expensive. Instead of costing thousands of dollars, 3D-printed limbs cost hundreds.

Chasse said his old prosthetic hand cost him $3,200, while his new hand cost just $200. He said that would make it possible for people without insurance to afford it.