COLLABORATORS

1. Dr. Prakash N. Shrivastava, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California, USA; Member, SHARE INDIA
2. Dr. Srinivasa Prakash Regalla, Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad
3. Dr. Kurra Suresh, Assoc.. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad
4. Dr. Kaushik Kalyan, Orthopedics Surgeon, MIMS
5. P. Nikethan Reddy, M. Tech, Research fellow
6. K. Uday Kiran, M. Tech, Research fellow

Funding source
Initial Funding: Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, Currently: SHARE USA

Development Approach of the Project

SHARE INDIA/MIMS and BITS Pilani (HYD) have collaborated to develop individually tailored, light weight and comfortable sockets for below knee prosthesis. The product called “Sukhfit” has been used by over 20 patients for over 2 years. We are now in the process of using patient feedback to improve our designs.
These improvements include:

1. Increase of strength to make it longer lasting
2. Increase of comfort level by redesigning the liner and
3. Decrease of the cost of production by reusing waste materials, computer automation and reduced labour

1. Increase the strength of the prosthesis and make it more effective and longer lasting.
2. Improve our digital Imaging process to remotely collect patient’s anatomical data.
3. Donate the “Sukhfit:2020” prosthesis to as many patients as possible at no cost to them and use their feedback to make it even more attractive to both patients and their prosthetists.
4. To provide better comfort, and maximum security for all patients at low cost.

Status of the Project
We have successfully doubled the strength of the prosthesis by using strategically placed reinforcement ribs around the area where higher stresses and loads are acting. We have given 5 new patients our new model “Sukhfit 2020” with the latest changes and are getting new patient feedback to continue further improvements. We also made modifications to our workbench-3 model to improve quality, stability and reliability of patient’s anatomy data taken in the field remotely. We have developed a customized new motor with our required specifications for torque and rpms for the workbench-3 model in collaboration with Laxven Solutions Inc., Cherlapally Telangana with the requirements needed for us. We applied for new formal approval of our patient testing protocol from the MIMS research Committee during this period.