Nonspec

One of the biggest challenges facing groups working in hardware for developing countries is the risk associated with building out physical products, compounded with the nature of a high-risk market. We are excited to be applying for the elevate prize as it would help us accelerate our goal of expanding the reach of our organization into target regions across Rwanda and Kenya. This funding would help us double our patient reach, and aid in fitting an additional 5k amputees, and engage with over 50 clinics. With much of our target regions experiencing supply chain issues, we hope to additionally use this money to bring in local manufacturing partners to foster a local medical supply chain in these regions to ensure better access and improved patient care. 

Our team members have dedicated our careers to increasing access to medical care in any way we can manage.

Our organization was founded after working with a few clinics in Massachusetts to help develop a better prosthetic system for handling growth in children. Expanding our technology to lower limbs took a lot of R&D and time spent on the ground with amputees and clinicians to ensure we were meeting the market's key needs. We committed ourselves to solving the problem while keeping a more aggressive end goal in site: What if we could make it possible for every amputee to have access to a device that let them get back to doing what they loved? While going down this road, we learned how fractured the developing country hardware space is and how monumental of a task it was to develop robust supply chains in parts of the world where a missed order “just happens”. Our backgrounds in design for manufacturing and resource management have helped us leverage a suite of high quality, affordable products to be a one-stop-shop for clinics, helping to increase healthcare access globally!

Globally, there are over 54M amputees, 80% of whom will never receive a prosthetic limb due to either lack of access or lack of funds. At the core of this problem is the fact that most clinics are overwhelmed with the backlog of patients that they have, with certified clinicians requiring several dozen hours of labor, from initial patient consultation to finished limb. For patients this means that those that do receive a limb will wait on average over 2 years before they get a device, which then needs about a dozen follow up adjustments. During that time, the loss in mobility can lead to further health complications.

To address this, our company has developed a simple off-the-shelf prosthetic limb kit which can be fit in under an hour by a minimally trained technician. Our device provides the same quality of fit as high-end carbon fiber limbs, without the associated production costs, and through our careful management of production costs, it is possible to fit a patient anywhere in the world sustainably for 40% less than our closest competitor. 

We are the only product currently available that can be sold for $250 USD to a clinic at a 80% FoB Margin. This has been made possible through our focus on robust design for manufacture, and a company obsession with manufacturing efficiency. Because our margins are so high, it is possible for us to address markets that previously could not be reached with anything but donated limbs. This increases the availability of devices to those most in need and provides the clinics that serve them with a viable alternative low cost, heavy, non-dynamic devices provided by non-profits. Our device can be adjusted while the amputee is wearing the limb, empowering the wearer to engage with the fitting process and ensure a good fit before leaving the facility. Additionally, we give both the user and clinician piece of mind, by being one of the only companies that offers a 4-year warranty to our customers in developing countries. One of the best and frequent compliments we get from users is that they forgot they were wearing the limb, meaning they are just living their lives to the fullest!

While there are many “high profile” cases of limb loss, most people who require an amputation are from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will not have access to the same standard of care. From our work, we’ve shown that there is an under counting of amputees in countries such as India and Rwanda, due largely to the fact that many of them are unable to access a clinic with a trained clinician to get a prosthetic. As a result, more than half will go uncounted. Our first fitting clinic in Hubli had an enrollment request of almost 2x the expected because the farmers in the region were desperate to get a non-homemade device.

For most amputees, a poorly fitting device means that they cannot do any of the activities they once loved. This can be simple things and complex things, but by and large, by fitting with one of our limbs, our wearers can go back to normal life, and participate as they once had. Often times without the need for special considerations. This means being able to go back to work.