The Leprosy Mission Hospital, Faizabad, northern India, is equipping a unit to make custom insoles, splints and braces for people disabled by leprosy, diabetes and conditions such as cerebral palsy. We've funded the machines. Now we need the software and finishing tools to make them work.
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The hospital serves one of the most needy communities in northern India, and leprosy patients are treated entirely free of cost. There is no disability rehabilitation unit anywhere in the surrounding region, home to 25 million people, and around 50,000 people live with disability close to the hospital alone. Patients with leprosy, diabetes, cerebral palsy or clubfoot go without properly fitted insoles, splints or braces, causing recurrent foot ulcers.
Friends of Vellore has funded the hospital's core equipment: a 3D foot scanner, CNC milling machine, 3D printer and cutting machine. However, two items are still needed: CAD software to turn foot scans into designs the mill can carve, and industrial sewing machines to finish and assemble devices. With these in place, patients with leprosy, diabetes and disabilities such as cerebral palsy will receive insoles, splints and braces made for their own bodies.
