Fergal Mackie, founder and CEO, Metacarpal, was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Science and Healthcare 2026 list. He studied product design engineering at Strathclyde University, Scotland, and founded Metacarpal in 2020 to specialize in body-powered upper-limb prosthetic devices after breaking his wrists in a skateboarding accident and being unable to carry out basic tasks.
The damage to one wrist caused tendon damage resulting in his thumb now using his index finger tendon.
“I clearly found the ordeal and the intricacies of the hand very interesting,” he told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast.
“The biggest shock for me was the fact that nearly half of people who use hand or upper-limb prosthetics reject them. Over the last 30 years, the industry has focused on robotic hands, but it has not had the impact that it would have hoped for on the rejection rates. There is still a massive need that is unfulfilled.
“While robotics work for a large group of people, it was not working for the other group, so we looked at what makes the hook so attractive and combined those together. Our device takes the abilities of the robotic hand, but it is mechanically operated so it is more practical, reliable and endurable.”
Mackie also won a national Young Innovator Award in 2023 and was named in the Sunday Times Young Power List 2024.
Metacarpal employs 12 people and recently launched the GEM, a multiarticulated, body-powered prosthetic hand. Almost 40 people in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States have received the device.
