Illinois non-profit organization IPT, formerly known as Illini Prosthetic Technologies, received $7,000 in donations to aid its mission of developing affordable transradial prostheses for amputees in Guatemala. The donations from the Springfield Westside and Waterloo chapters of Rotary International will go toward fitting and distributing the prostheses, and will pay for more than 20 of the arms.
The prostheses produced by IPT are available in three sizes; are made from plastic, fabric, and metal; and cost approximately $300 to produce, as opposed to the average U.S. cost ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. The prosthesis has an adjustable harness and allows operation of a hook-like hand by the patient’s control of a cable system with shoulder movements.
