For the project ‘Low Cost Prosthesis’, designer Mickael Boulay is currently working on an adjustable connection part and a foot. To get relevant feedback and to be able to make the next steps, he gathered experts in the Waag for a meetup.
Mickael has milled an example of the foot in the Fablab Amsterdam, based on a design of Jens Dyvik. And he is working on an element that will be situated under the socket and on top of the foot. “I want to design it so that the wearer can adjust the angles and fine-tune the position of the pillon and foot”, says Mickael. In this video, you can see the first draft model.
Meetup
On Friday 22 February 201,3 several expert came together at the Waag to look at the tangible output produced in the HONFablab in Yogyakarta and Fablab Amsterdam. One by one, the various sockets, feet and connections were examined and discussed on a technical level. How resistant should they be? Which local materials are suitable? And can we find cheap ways to test the prototypes ourselves? Based on these outcomes, Mickael will start rethinking the design of the foot.
The conceptual side of the prototypes has been reaffirmed: the production of a prosthesis that is adjustable directly by its wearer would bring the person into an active relationship with the prosthesis. In this way, experience and acceptance can enhance each other. This mindset is imagined for a need in Indonesia, but could it also work here, in the Netherlands?
This inspiring day provided the Low Cost Prosthesis team with accurate feedback on the prototypes as well as on how to continue the challenge. We would like to thank the experts for their input:
• Ira Agrivine (HONF, Yogyakarta)
• Arjen Bergsma (Biomedical Engineer, Motion Project)
• Marcel Conradi (Director of De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation Centre, Utrecht)
• Dirk van Dongen (Orthopaedic Technologist & Human Kinetic Technologist, Verhage Orthopedie, Utrecht)
• Prof. Dr. Bert Otten (NeuroMechanics and Prosthetics Center for Human Movement Sciences, UMGC)
• Bram Sterke (Master student Biomedical Engineering UMGC)
• Tommy Suryo (HONF, Fablab manager Yogyakarta)
