NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, April 11, 2016

Many people in the world are fortunate enough to have little to no issues with their health. As you smack that alarm down in the morning, spring up and out, rushing to drive to work and engage in what sometimes seems like the overwhelming busy busy-ness of the day and week, it’s easy to take for granted how much more difficult your day, week, and life could be.

Imagine trying to perform all that you need to—without the arm you are accustomed to favoring for writing, eating, playing sports, and so much more—or without one of those legs responsible for your often constant locomotion. Now, take that one step further and imagine having such physical challenges and living in a developing nation, where life might already be somewhat—to incredibly—difficult on a continual basis.

Thanks to some substantial leaps and bounds in technology though, the world of prosthetics is in the process of being transformed, as are the lives of many in the process. I often think if 3D printing had only been responsible for making huge changes in the worlds of so many needing prosthetics, and it had stopped there, that in itself would have been an enormous contribution; as it is, the technology is making incredibly positive changes to nearly every sector, and it’s a fascinating evolution to be witnessing.

Currently, according to Nia Technologies, it takes five days to make a prosthetic. While previously it may have been much longer and involved even more mess and inconvenience, that’s too long by today’s standards—much too long. In working to offer prosthetic limbs to young ones in Uganda, as well as other poverty-stricken countries, two Canadian tech firms, Nia Technologies and Vorum, are partnering to see that prosthetics can be made in a fraction of the time.