Amputees: Med-Tech group creates low-cost prosthetic arm
A med-tech start up called VULCAN AUGMETICS, has created the lowest cost battery-powered functional modular prosthetic arm for upper body amputees outside Asia, starting in Africa before expanding into the Caribbean region.
The hope after 4 years of diligent research, engineering, trials and testing is to change the future of those who lost a hand or part of their hand are culturally ostracized, and relegated to the only art form that seems to welcome them without discrimination. That artform is begging for alms, at the roadside, at street corners, or at traffic lights.
Co-founded by British engineer Rafael Masters [CEO] and Vietnamese entrepreneur Ella Trinh [COO], the duo have tapped the global branding expertise of California native, Ademola Oduwole, who helped develop the retail and corporate brands in Africa for marquees such as Barclays Bank, SC Johnson, Mercedes Benz, L’Oreal and Sociate Generale, to bring this relief to those in need, on the African continent.
‘In countries across Europe and North America, begging because of a missing part of an arm is rare, because there are various government, corporate and community programs that supports with prosthetics’, CEO Rafael said. “But in emerging markets, this is absent, and we are trying to change that.”
“Cost is always an issue in lower income countries, and we can’t let that stop people living a full life after losing an arm,” Ella Trinh shared. “We build most of the products in house, as we have a cost-to-manufacture advantage.”
Apart from products and services for personal use such as prosthetics, Vulcan Augmetics is also developing an architecture that would create products for use in commercial [warehousing], healthcare, and industrial use, areas where the African continent and the Carribean region would benefit from, as e-commerce dominates trade.
‘Our goal is to quickly deploy these human augmentations and supports across Africa and the Caribbean by building practical partnerships that allows this new beginning in the lives of many, hopefully with very little red tape’, Ademola Oduwole added. Now, that responsibility, falls right on my desk.”
The Guardian/S.S
