NWU wants to manufacture affordable artificial limbs. Losing a limb is certainly a traumatic experience. It usually goes along with astronomical medical bills, and the last thing that you would want to worry about is sufficient funds to afford a prosthetic limb.
CP Kloppers, a lecturer in the School of Mechanical
Engineering and project manager, says this idea was the brainchild of a colleague, Danie Vorster. “I know
that we have the necessary expertise, and even though we lack experience, it is still worth
trying,” says Danie.
CP reached out to Theunis Nel, famous TV presenter of the
motorbike programme Woema, who was amputated. “Theunis and I sat around a table
and discussed our initiative to manufacture prosthetic limbs. Theunis was very positive about it and I
immediately offered to build him a prosthetic arm as a pilot project.”
The NWU has an ultramodern and sophisticated 3D printer
with a price tag of almost R2,5 million. Now CP and a masters degree student, Jako van Rooyen,
want to design a prosthetic arm and build a new plastic arm with the 3D printer.
“We were able to borrow a prosthetic arm from one of
Theunis’s friends. He imported it from Canada a few months ago, and paid almost
R60 000 for it. We examined the arm in our workshop for three months. We reverse-engineered the arm by taking it
apart, and measuring, drawing and redesigning all the parts. We are still in the process of
manufacturing the arm, and it looks like it is going to be a major success,” says CP.
He also says that there is strict legislation in place
when it comes to the design and manufacturing of prostheses and that the final product will be examined
and approved by an orthotist and a prosthetist before it can be used. “We have already
contacted these specialists, who are keeping a hawk’s eye on our design and manufacturing process.
The prosthesis should be ready and approved by the end of
June. We have already designed and made a prototype from plastic and aluminium,
and it worked perfectly. Theunis recently visited the NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus
to look at the progress with the prosthetic arm. He was taken by surprise when CP informed
him that they were not only going to build him a new arm, but that they were also busy with a
project to customise and modify his motorbike so that he will be able to ride it again soon.
This project should also be completed by the end of June.
The Faculty will also be providing technical support for
the customisation of a second motorbike. Theunis says he and a friend will use
these motorbikes to travel across South Africa and do missionary work.
The School of Mechanical Engineering applied for funding
from a national public entity that stimulates and supports technological innovation. This
entity’s role is inter alia to bridge the gap between research and development. CP says they are still
waiting to hear whether or not their application was successful.
“Additional funding will open up the door to the
manufacturing of prosthetic limbs and supply them to people who cannot afford the expensive and usually
imported prostheses.” says CP.