MOON SHOT! Ideas Needed!! i just read the email below from one of our

MOON SHOT! Ideas Needed!! i just read the email below from one of our Kindergarten Teachers and I immediately thought that if we had enough information I could maybe? 3D print a possible replacement.

Scenario:
“…a student that has misplaced the back of their hearing aid. It is the blue piece that goes around the ear with attached silver hearing aid boot. The silver boot alone is $1,000. I am going to continue to tear apart my classroom to look for it and [custodians] will be on the lookout for it tonight while [they] clean.”

What I’m asking the community here is to give me ideas about what things to ask for if we were to offer help and/or to reverse-engineer this housing?

Request:
What all do I/we need to recreate the missing piece?
I’m guessing a 3D model of the ear area is essential? Would photogrammetry work? Laser scanner? I’m not terribly optimistic we can help but it got me thinking.

FYI: We are a K-12 school district in the USA. I have access to Fusion 360, a few Prusa I3 MK3 printers (with PLA, TPU and ABS), digital cameras, calipers, and maybe some soft modeling clay in the Art rooms. In the deep past I’ve made molds of human body parts for masks and special effects using latex and plaster. So I’m willing to get creative.

Here’s the image from the teacher…
missing/deleted image from Google+

Kyle - it sounds like a potentially cool project. Downside - that blue part is the Guts of the unit - as I see it controls and electronics in it. You can’t just 3D Print the part - its needs hi-tech SMALL Electronic components!!! So - I think the situation is kinda FUBAR’d!

:frowning:

As Kurt has mentioned - that blue part contains all the electronics to make the whole thing work. It’s not really a problem that 3D printing can solve. :frowning:

Guys, the blue part needs to be enclosed, thus 3D printing a part to cover that would work. You would need to ensure that the internals were given sufficient space to fit inside the printed part, with access to the switch being available. Also the outside would need to be ergonomic. A two piece part would be best, with the Join in a place where it wouldn’t rub on the ear.

I used over the ear style hearing aids from childhood and I don’t understand what the alleged “silver boot” is even supposed to be. And making that’s not going to help with the missing hearing aid, which really does cost over $1000 each easily, I suspect the email writer might not be communicating properly.

@John_Szaroleta - sorry, but your missing the point of what I wrote - and ThantiK agreed upon. Deal is - the blue shape is NOT a big deal. And, its better for Resin printing. The problem is - its the components inside it that are KEY - and without them - its useless. And, that can NOT be reproduced! AFAIK…