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Operation Namaste Making 3D Printed Molds for Prosthetic Aligners in Nepal

Last January, Certified Prosthetist-Orthotist (CPO) Jeff Erenstone, the Chief Technology Officer of Create O&P, decided to leave the company he co-founded in order to continue advancing and improving clinical and prosthetic care in the developing world.

Jeff Erenstone fitting a prosthetic liner on an amputee’s leg

In addition to treating patients in his upstate New York clinics, he has now focused all of his attention on Operation Namaste, the non-profit organization he co-founded that is working to ensure amputees around the world have easy access to comfortable prosthetic care.

According to the organization’s website, it helps “determined people achieve by providing tools and support to Orthotic and Prosthetic practitioners in Nepal and beyond.”

Operation Namaste has worked on several helpful projects, such as hosting a summit on prosthetics and orthotics, setting up Camp Namaste for Nepalese children with limb differences, helping a Paralympic hopeful play basketball, and completing the Nepal Warrior Trek, where a team of amputees and business owners traveled to the country to raise awareness and financial assistance for victims of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Its latest project is SILC (silicone interface liner comfort) Solutions, which is a system for fabricating silicone liners locally. In October, Operation Namaste volunteers took a trip to Kathmandu, Nepal to test out the new program, which will work to improve prosthetic care – using 3D printing – in developing countries.

“Part service trip and part trek, this trip featured a team of prosthetists, a physiotherapist, and an amputee peer counselor who toured the beautiful country of Nepal, visiting several prosthetic clinics along the way and putting on an educational summit for Nepali practitioners discussing the latest care techniques,” the website stated about the organization’s Nepal Trek 2019.

Prosthetic liners go between an amputee and their prosthesis in order to increase mobility and comfort…which is great for patients in high-income countries with either medical insurance or the money to pay for them.

SILC Solutions prosthetic liner

Erenstone said, “Without prosthetic liners, amputees would not be summiting the Himalayas, returning to active-duty military service, and competing against able-bodied athletes in Olympic sports.”

Unfortunately, these liners are not readily available, or are too expensive, for most amputees in low-income, developing countries like Nepal.

Demonstration at educational conference in Nepal

Operation Namaste’s new SILC Solutions method uses CAD-designed, 3D printed molds to create standard-sized silicone liners. Compared to typical liners, which can cost upwards of $200, the sustainable ones created by the organization will cost less than $50 to fabricate – making them far more accessible to amputees in developing countries.

Erenstone mixing silicone to make a liner in Nepal

Erenstone has firsthand experience in seeing the positive difference that a quality prosthetic liner can make in the life of an amputee, especially in places like Nepal.

“I’m really excited for this project take off in Nepal, and beyond. Our goal here was to make liners affordable, accessible, and sustainable, and I think we are achieving that,” said Erenstone.

ROMP (Range of Motion Project), a Colorado-based nonprofit organization with dovetailing goals, is partnering with Operation Namaste to help achieve the goal of improving prosthetic care all around the world.

“Gel liners are just not within reach for most people in developing countries,” said Eric Neufeld, the chair of the board at ROMP. “This has been a limiting factor in the quality of care for amputees.”

3D printed liner mold

During Operation Namaste’s recent trip to Nepal, the team of volunteers successfully tested out the new SILC Solutions program, determining that it was possible to use 3D printed molds to make lower cost prosthetics anywhere. The organization plans to finalize its SILC prosthetic liners ahead of another planned trip to Nepal in spring 2020, where volunteers will deliver necessary materials to fabricate the liners and train practitioners on the process.

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[Images: Operation Namaste]

The post Operation Namaste Making 3D Printed Molds for Prosthetic Aligners in Nepal appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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3D printing news sliced Zortrax, Aectual, GEWO 3D, Admaflex, Create O&P 3D

Today in Sliced, our 3D printing news digest, we collect all the latest news on artistic applications, product releases and medical news. In addition to the title companies, we feature Metso, MakerBrane, Mighty Oak Medical, designer Patricia Urquiola, custom lighting company LimeLite, and artistic shoe brand Ica & Kostika. We also have some business updates, […]
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Create O&P Co-Founder Jeff Erenstone Resigning to Bring More 3D Printed Prosthetics to Developing Countries

3D printing orthotic and prosthetic manufacturer Create O&P, based in New York, is responsible for creating the first medical-grade 3D printed arm for a survivor of the Haiti earthquake. Soon after this feat, it introduced the Create 3400: the first and only fully integrated medical-grade 3D printer for orthotic and prosthetic devices. The company’s mission is to manufacture cost-effective 3D printed prosthetics that are easily accessible around the world, and not just in the US. It’s safe to say that Create O&P has used 3D printing to do a lot of good in the world.

Jeff Erenstone, the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Create O&P, is a certified prosthetist-orthotist. He already had his own clinical practice, Mountain Orthotic and Prosthetic Services, when he launched the company in late 2014 after seeing the potential of using 3D printing to increase productivity in the orthotic and prosthetic care industry. Now, he’s decided to move on in order to continue advancing and improving clinical and prosthetic care in the developing world, and this week announced his resignation as the company’s CTO.

“I am very proud to have co-founded this business and work with hundreds of clinic owners to improve care for their patients and enhance efficiency at the same time. I am excited to take the lessons we learned here and improve care in the developing world where this technology will allow for clinical care in areas where it otherwise is currently unavailable,” Erenstone said.

Erenstone will be continuing his work in the orthotics and prosthetics field by expanding the use of applied 3D printing solutions in clinical work in developing regions of the world through his non-profit organization, Operation Namaste, which he also co-founded. This is a pretty inspiring move, in my opinion.

“I am very proud of the products we developed at Create O&P, which today includes 3D printers, software, education and other tools with which O&P clinicians can produce a whole range of products. With Create O&P’s capabilities, clinicians in the United States and throughout the world have seen drastic improvements in the efficiency of their practices,” said Erenstone. “I am glad to be leaving this company in competent and energetic hands.”

The heartwarming Operation Namaste organization wants to ensure that amputees all around the world can have easy access to 3D printed prosthetic care. Its mission is “to provide a continuum of prosthetic care and related rehabilitative services to the people of Nepal” and other developing countries as well, such as Haiti.

Some of the projects that Operation Namaste has worked on include a summit on prosthetics and orthotics, Camp Namaste for Nepalese children with limb differences, and the Nepal Warrior Trek, where a team of amputees (including an Ohio police officer) and business owners journeyed to the country for a long trek with the purpose of raising awareness and financial assistance for victims of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

“We will very much miss Jeff at Create O&P and wish him the best of luck as he brings 3D technology to places where patients too often don’t receive care. Jeff’s contributions to this company are immeasurable,” stated Create O&P’s CEO Cecilia “Cissi” Schaffer. “As a clinician, practitioner and visionary, Jeff saw the challenges domestic clinics face, particularly as they relate to net margins. He knew that 3D printing was the only solution that would both improve efficiency and improve clinical care.”

Erenstone was the company’s first CEO, and oversaw the development of two generations of its 3D printers, which includes its current series that makes it possible to manufacture diagnostic sockets, hands-free, in less than three hours. In addition, he also created Create O&P’s Rapid Plaster software, digitally replicates the processes that clinicians use in order to design sockets, as well as other devices, for their patients.

[Image: Create O&P]

“It was an honor to co-found this company with Jeff. We are implementing Jeff’s vision, which he himself tirelessly pursued for over four years,” said Create O&P Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer Dan Kelleher. “I am grateful to Jeff for the opportunity to help him pursue this digital future since 2014.”

Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. 

[Images: Operation Namaste unless otherwise noted]