Life & Style

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Knee offers hope to world's poor

$50-$100 price eyed for artificial joint

By: Sheryl Ubelacker

Posted: 02/21/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

NATHAN DENETTE / THE CANADIAN PRESS Biomedical engineer Jan Andrysek (right) and prosthetic-orthotic technician Ron Bartlett work in the prosthetic fabrication facility at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.

TORONTO -- Jan Andrysek balances a prosthetic leg on the arm of his chair, then applies downward pressure to make the front of the foot push forward, causing a joint in the device to bend just like a natural knee.

The prototype black metal knee joint may look like some kind of automobile part, but the biomedical engineer hopes the simple device will give the gift of mobility to untold numbers of people in developing countries.

Cost is the reason.

With an estimated target price of $50 to $100, the joint is an affordable component that will allow a static prosthesis -- made up of a socket, a metal post called a pylon and an artificial foot -- to move in a rhythm that more closely mimics a natural leg.

There's a need "for an inexpensive knee joint -- inexpensive sort of equates to accessibility -- because in many countries people don't have the money nor are there funding systems in place to allow them to be able to purchase these devices," says Andrysek of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.

"And in countries such as Canada, these devices can cost typically, to put a prosthesis together, you're looking in excess of $5,000 -- and it can go up to $50,000.

"We're fortunate in Canada to have funding systems in place that cover most of those costs for the individuals. But that is not the case for most countries around the world."

Haiti is one glaring example of a country desperate for affordable, functional prostheses to help the tens of thousands of amputees who suffered traumatic injuries in the 2010 earthquake.

"In counties such as Cambodia and Myanmar, you have many postwar injuries resulting from landmines that haven't been cleared or are even still being laid," he says. Blast and other injuries in war-torn countries like Afghanistan have also left a population of amputees in need of prosthetics.

Andrysek has spent about six years developing the knee joint with a team at the Bloorview Research Institute. He was recently awarded a $100,000 grant by the non-profit organization Grand Challenges Canada after being named one of its "Rising Stars in Global Health."

Andrysek says a built-in locking and unlocking mechanism in the joint automatically responds to pressure, or "loading patterns," exerted through the foot.

The knee joint is now being tested by the International Red Cross, which has project sites in about 60 countries, he says. "They will be evaluating it over a year, and depending how it goes, they would be a very good partner to get this technology out there to those who need it.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 21, 2012 A11

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