TIBIA

Our mission is to develop an affordable and robust orthotic solution, tailored to the needs of impoverished adults in resource-limited nations. Conclusively, fostering sustainable healthcare, ensuring further patient independence and an overall well-being, while minimizing the need of foreign imports.

Adults who suffer from ambulatory disabilities in developing countries do not have the economic means nor the technical expertise to get proper treatment for their musculoskeletal pathology. Needed interventions tend to be very costly and resource-limited countries depend on imported medical equipment and materials from abroad.

The project consists on creating a System Under Design which satisfies the needs of the empoverished counterparts of the population. Concretely, this aid is centered on the redesign of lower-limb assistive technologies catered towards adults who lack the capacity of affording or accessing the necessary treatment. In order to meet this goal, additive manufacturing solutions will be explored and oriented towards addressing mobility-related health disparities. The affordability and efficiency of 3D-Printing Technologies encourage collaboration and propose a scalable solution to meet the demands of the population. This manufacturing method would satisfy the development of orthotic solutions which are affordable, robust and require little dependence on importations from abroad. Possible explored solutions include the redesign of Ankle-Foot-Orthotic Devices, for instance. All of these efforts in order to provide access to orthotic solutions for the inhospitable regions in the world, conclusively aiding and extending a helping hand to the vulnerable—ultimately embodying the spirit of 'Reaching the Unreachable'."