Hideki Murakami
Muscular dystrophy patient
Neuromuscular/ Development Center, Hokkaido Medical Center

I have Duchenne muscular dystrophy (hereinafter, “muscular dystrophy”), and I have experienced becoming unable to do everyday things countless times so far. As my arms continued to weaken, I enjoyed thinking about whether things which would ordinarily cause people to give up could not be made even a little bit more convenient. Even though it was hard for my hands to reach things, I thought about how it would be if I could stretch them out, and with the kind of backscratcher that old men use, I moved things on the top of the table, and sometimes used it to get up to mischief (laughs). I do not honestly know why I tend to think in these peculiar (?) ways, but I suppose that perhaps there are two reasons. One is that when I was small, I liked making things; the other is that I am the eldest of three brothers with the same disability. When my middle brother became unable to do something which he could do previously, he would often exclaim “Why can’t I do it?!” in an angry tone. Even if I advised him “How about trying this trick?”, he was unable to listen, just repeating how he could not do it. I think that he had various feelings, but it seemed to me that he would have done better to try using his intelligence before complaining. Perhaps because of this, I remember that whenever I saw something new, I got excited thinking about ingenious ways in which it might be used. My recent favourite item is the 3D printer which I am going to introduce here.

Photo: Trying out the cap which was made with the 3D printer

Making my game controller easier to use with my 3D printer

Many muscular dystrophy patients like computer games. I am no exception: I particularly enjoyed high-action games with plenty of movement, like role playing games and racing games. However, my disease progressed stealthily and without warning, and I began to feel that gaming was difficult: the buttons on the game controller were stiff and hard to press, and my fingers could not reach them.

The first innovation I attempted was to change to a small-sized game controller. This alone improved many things, but somehow it was not quite enough to solve everything just like that. This is where the 3D printer was called for. Put simply, a 3D printer outputs data made on a computer in three-dimensional form. This time, I thought of a cap for the joystick to make it longer and easier for my thumbs to reach.

The author with the 3D printer

Making things is similar to carrying out an experiment. It involves making and testing hypotheses over and over until you get a result. For someone like me, whose daily life involves relying on carers for most of my everyday tasks, such an experiment also requires other people’s help. However, I like the fact that making things with a 3D printer allows me to continue until they are in a form with which I am satisfied without having to bother my carers. Recently, I have been devoting my time to making not only self-help devices but also other small items. Why not try making use of a 3D printer in order to enjoy your daily life?

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