Courtesy of TEC
Students from the Costa Rican Technological Institute (TEC) are looking for a faster and cheaper process to manufacture prostheses in the country. They are looking towards 3D printing and the use of innovative materials.
With this, ERGOTEC specialists claim that the knee –or below- amputees get their lives back as quickly and easily as possible.
The biggest needs come from the fact that there is a very limited range of products that in many cases are very expensive,”
said Miguel Araya, Industrial Design engineer in charge of the research, which began in January 2016.
The team has been commissioned to study the reality of such prostheses in the country.
One of the conclusions is that patients in Costa Rica must wait up to one year to receive their prostheses.
In addition, one of these prostheses can cost up to 15 thousand dollars, while Social Security only has $ 675 grants.
The important thing is to seek, through technology and new manufacturing processes and design, a prosthesis with two characteristics: a low cost and the ability to meet the functional needs of a patient,”
added Araya.
In addition, thanks to 3D printing, TEC experts would work with the emotional aspect of it, as they would also work on the aesthetics of the prosthesis, so that it is proportional to the rest of the body.
A finished model is expected by the end of 2017.