Design and Prototyping for Disability. PROTIUM Case Study

The present paper introduces the methodology applied for the development of Protium, a low cost prosthetic foot for children assisted in the Sulaymaniyah Rehabilitation And Social Reintegration Centre of Emergency, in Iraq.
Nowadays in Iraq a high percentage of the population is affected by landmi- nes and, in particular, children need a constant replacement of the prosthesis due to their growth, which impacts on the life quality and on the healthcare costs.
We have designed Protium in order to be made inside a rehabilitation cen- ter, where operators can replicate the prosthetic element with machinery and materials available at a low cost in Iraq, increasing the independence of the center in agreement with Emergency’s ethics.
To guarantee the quality of the device, we have analyzed the users and walk’s biomechanics with the support of experts from Emergency and Ortho- medica; then we have examined low-cost prosthetic feet cases and some in- novative projects. A further step was the focus on the materials, we analyzed the stress on elements in order to identify these materials with the best proper- ties to accomplish our aim.
The result of the research consists of the design for a prosthetic foot for children, made with a low budget and an high level of efficiency. The production of the prosthetic element uses reusable appropriate materials and integrates the local potential. Moreover, Protium is designed to be an open source project that everyone can benefit on: all the steps of production can be reproduced easily, making it accessible to everyone.