University of Strathclyde and ProPortion plan to establish prosthetics facility in Colombia

Researchers at University of Strathclyde are developing a ‘Leg bank’ to provide prostheses to low-earning people. Strathclyde and ProPortion, a Dutch based social welfare organization, are planning to set up a facility in Colombia providing high-quality prosthetic legs to patients who have lost their legs from landmines injuries. Strathclyde’s Bio medical Engineering department has developed a unique device known as Majicastto manufacture prosthetic sockets for lower limbs, which fitsartificial limbsfirmly to leftover limbs of the patient. A spokesperson mentioned that Colombia has a high occurrence rate for amputations due to landmines and other causes such as diabetes and accidents. Many people in Colombia do not have access to get prostheses. Majicast’s provides comparative ease of use and is significant in countries, which have low earning people in majority and where human resources are less and the requirement is high. The device has been tested and validated scientifically and clinically. ProPortion isusing the services of a design agency to optimize Majicast into a market-ready product. According to the ProPortion, they have unique inventions but they are lacking in capacity and organizational arrangements to bring their innovations to the market.