Live Your Dream, Naples SCORE Can Help



Left to right: Scott Zajaczkowski and Dan Didrick
of Didrick Medical with the X-Finger®.
[Photo courtesy of Lexey Swall / Naples Daily News]

Didrick Medical
The X-Finger® is the world’s first active-function artificial finger assembly!
www.didrickmedical.com

Naples SCORE client Dan Didrick has invented the first non-robotic prosthetic finger with a full range of motion, including being able to curl like a normal finger. Now, he is on a mission. That mission, is to get his new invention to all of our soldiers with amputated fingers, which according to a press release from the Department of Defense, is nearly 1000 soldiers from just the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (through February 2007).

"They’ve given up their freedom and their independence so that we can have our freedom and our independence. We need to give back to them," Didrick says.

In May of 2007, Didrick was awarded second place in a national invention contest (with about 2,500 submissions) sponsored by the History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation for his invention of the X-Finger. He received $5000 as a contest prize, but more importantly, Didrick’s X-Finger was recognized and honored by other world-changing people such as Apple founder Steve Wozniak and Nobel Prize-winning MRI inventors Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfiel. The X-Finger was even featured on the History Channel's television show Modern Marvels as well as in the United States Patent Trademark Office museum.

Didrick and his company Didrick Medical have worked with Naples SCORE counselors Ralph Segall and Jim Hanley over the past few years to get advice on starting their company, obtaining product patents, funding their project and getting governmental interest in their project. At this point, Didrick and his partner Scott Zajaczkowski are trying to raise about $11 million to hire the engineers and computer designers to help boost production over the next three years. Right now, production is limited to about 100 fingers every 45 days.

“SCORE has been helping us from the beginning by offering intelligent and unbiased information to help us proceed. They always say the best things in life are free. Thank you SCORE!,” says Didrick.

The X-Finger is designed to work as a real finger. It can bend down, point forward and even wag back and forth. The finger can even support the weight of a full cup of coffee or clutch a golf club.

The X-Finger is kind of like a tinker toy that is strapped to the stub or remaining portion of a finger. When the stub moves down it pushes against a lever called a pan that curls the artificial knuckles.

"There’s no learning curve," Didrick says, as he straps on one of his devices on his own index finger. As he curls the tip of his index finger, the X-Finger curls in-step.

The X-Finger’s first client is Ron Arthur, who cut off most of his left pinky finger almost 10 years ago in a construction accident. Ron has provided valuable feedback that has helped Didrick perfect his product.

Ron Arthur, X-Finger®'s first client
[Photo courtesy of Michel Fortier / Naples Daily News]

SCORE's counseling services are all at no cost. SCORE offers counseling sessions on a one-on-one basis as well as workshops. E-mail counseling is offered as well to those who are out of the area, or prefer cyber-meetings. SCORE is a partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration with over 10,500 members and 389 chapters nationwide.

The Naples chapter ran 14 workshops last year with a total of 351 business people in attendance. Additionally, the chapter counseled 920 clients in face-to-face sessions and another 902 via email.

We can be reached by e-mail at score@scorenaples.org or by phone at 239-430-0081. Our Web site is www.scorenaples.org

SCORE Counselors
Ralph Segall and Jim Hanley
(left to right)