Pneumatic Prosthetic team won first prize

"Pneumatic Prosthetic team" led by Muhammed Janish U from MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram won first prize worth one lakh rupees in TECHTOP '18 (13 th National Innovation Challenge Program) held at Kalasalingam University

For a low-functional mechanical leg called the Jaipur legs, about 150 amputees from different parts of the nation reach Jaipur everyday. Majority of them are poor and do tedious works for a living. A well-functional prosthetic limp with varying damping will cost around 35 lakhs(the American made 'C-Leg' ), which most could only dream of.

Many of the amputees are above-knee amputees which will make their rehabilitation even more challenging. Amputees who later became exceptionally good at their careers like Oscar Pistorius (the blade runner) and Sudha Chandran were all below knee amputees. We seldom know any above-knee amputees who later chased their dreams once being amputed. If amputees in the nation have great dreams to be fulfilled and work this hard, we felt that they deserve more than a low cost mechanical leg that merely provides support.

The team is very happy to inform that they have finally succeeded in replacing the servo valves (costs about 5 lakhs) in high-end prosthetic legs with low cost proportional solenoid valves without compromising safety and functionality. We have also been successful in controlling the proportional solenoid valves and feel proud in introducing it into the prosthetic field for the very first time.