steptics blog
Affordable prostheses for people worldwide
Making high-performance foot prostheses accessible to amputees worldwide: steptics has set its sights on nothing less. The start-up develops high-quality prostheses that people in every region of the world could be able to afford. In doing so, the founders are overcoming technical and economic boundaries.
Maximum mobility for minimum money
Currently, prostheses are typically produced manually, which is both time-consuming and costly. After extensive prototype testing in the HM Laboratory for Material Technology, the Steptics team has developed an automated process that significantly reduces production costs. Daniel Kun, one of the startup’s founders, explains: “Simply put, the advantage of manufacturing our foot prostheses is that we can fully automate the customization step, meaning we can adapt the foot prosthesis geometry to the specific requirements of the wearer—such as weight, left or right foot, and amputation height.
Often a luxury in emerging and developing countries
In emerging and developing countries in particular, prostheses are often still a luxury that only a few people can afford. The World Health Organization estimates that around 30 million people in these countries need orthopedic aids. And even in industrialized countries, many people are denied access to non-refundable high-performance prostheses. This is exactly what the steptics team wants to change with its new production process.
The young company steptics is supported by HM’s Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE) and the EXIST start-up funding.
Source: https://www.hm.edu/aktuelles/news/news_detailseite_255808.de.html