Designing for Scale: Development of the ReMotion Knee for Global Emerging Markets
Designing for Scale: Development of the ReMotion Knee for Global Emerging Markets
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s10439-013-0792-8
复制
发表时间：
2013-09-01
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Donaldson, Krista M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hamner, Samuel R.;Narayan, Vinesh G.;Donaldson, Krista M.
生活在发展中国家的截肢者非常需要负担得起和可靠的下肢假肢装置。世界卫生组织估计，约有3000万截肢者生活在低收入国家，其中高达95%的人无法获得假肢装置。有效的假肢可以通过增加就业机会和改善长期健康和福祉，对这些截肢者的生活产生重大影响。然而，目前的解决方案是不够的：来自美国和欧洲的最先进的解决方案是成本高昂的，而低成本设备受到质量差和/或性能不可靠的挑战，并且尚未实现大规模的影响。由于低收入地区缺乏有凝聚力的假肢行业，新设备的引进受到阻碍;目前的低成本假肢诊所网络是非正式的，组织松散，在地理、病人数量和人口统计、设备采购、临床和后勤基础设施以及资金方面存在很大差异。在D-Rev（设计革命），我们正在创造ReMotion膝关节，这是一种负担得起的多中心假体膝关节，其性能与美国和欧洲等工业化地区的设备相当。截至2012年9月，通过与JaipurFoot组织的合作，已有超过4200名截肢者安装了ReMotion膝关节的初始版本，2年后的合规率为79%。我们目前正在通过集中制造和分销来扩大ReMotion膝关节的生产，以服务于低收入国家的现有诊所，并为无法获得适当护理的截肢者增加设备的可用性。在D-Rev，我们通过经济上可持续的模式开发针对这些客户的产品，并为世界截肢者的生活带来可衡量的影响。
Amputees living in developing countries have a profound need for affordable and reliable lower limb prosthetic devices. The World Health Organization estimates there are approximately 30 million amputees living in low-income countries, with up to 95% lacking access to prosthetic devices. Effective prosthetics can significantly affect the lives of these amputees by increasing opportunity for employment and providing improvements to long-term health and well-being. However, current solutions are inadequate: state-of-the-art solutions from the US and Europe are cost-prohibitive, while low-cost devices have been challenged by poor quality and/or unreliable performance, and have yet to achieve large scale impact. The introduction of new devices is hampered by the lack of a cohesive prosthetics industry in low-income areas; the current network of low-cost prosthetic clinics is informal and loosely organized with significant disparities in geography, patient volume and demographics, device procurement, clinical and logistical infrastructure, and funding. At D-Rev (Design Revolution) we are creating the ReMotion Knee, which is an affordable polycentric prosthetic knee joint that performs on par with devices in more industrialized regions, like the US and Europe. As of September 2012, over 4200 amputees have been fitted with the initial version of the ReMotion Knee through a partnership with the JaipurFoot Organization, with an 79% compliance rate after 2 years. We are currently scaling production of the ReMotion Knee using centralized manufacturing and distribution to serve the existing clinics in low-income countries and increase the availability of devices for amputees without access to appropriate care. At D-Rev, we develop products that target these customers through economically-sustainable models and provide a measurable impact in the lives of the world's amputees.