ISRO AND ARTIFICIAL LIMB ?
ISRO
and artificial limb? Why not. The
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) has developed a polyurethane foot, a boon for the handicapped.
The new artificial foot technology has an edge over the popular
and the traditional Jaipur leg, with the main advantage being
very light and more durable.
The polyurethane
foot has been tested extensively at the Government medical college
Thiruvananthapuram and a number of modifications and improvements
made on the feedback of the amputees who tried the new artificial
limb.
Polyurethane
is one of several composite materials developed by the Vikram
Space Centre, which is used as an ingredient to make rocket motors.
Evolvement of this has resulted in an important spin-off in the
form of artificial foot prostheses and limbs for the disabled.
The development of an integral skin polyurethane foam was initiated
by ISRO in consultation with the pioneers of the ankle-foot prostheses,
widely known as Jaipur leg among those who had lost their foot
due to a variety of reasons.
The ISRO
just transferred this technology to a Jaipur-based Social Organisation,
Bhagwan Mahavir Vikalang Sahayata Samiti free of cost to enable
it to produce artificial leg in large quantities for the benefit
of the poor and the needy amputees in the country.
