The Engineering Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) developed prosthetic limbs for children with disabilities. The aid initiated by the Biomedical Engineering Department was mainly aimed at children at the Children With Disabilities Coaching Center (YPAC) of Semarang.
This aid in the form of prosthetic limbs served as a community service (PKM) for the instructors of the Biomedical Engineering Department. As an initial step, a prosthetic leg was given to a child from the YPAC named Fauzul.
Menik Dwi Kurniatie, S.Si., M. Biotech, the leader of this community service team, prioritized this community service to create prosthetic legs, with prosthetic hands being the continuation of them. One of the advantages of this community service was that the prosthetic limbs would undergo a series of testing processes, with the hope of fulfilling the needs of these children with disabilities.
“We start the testing process by measuring both legs and hands of the patients so that they can fit. This one-month process was demanding, as we needed to do it properly. Furthermore, we also involved several students in this project,” she revealed.
The developing process was conducted in the Engineering Faculty Lab, with the 3D concepts being designed in the Biomedical Engineering lab. Following the designing process, the 3D concepts would be printed using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) in the Sispro Lab. Through these series of processes, the prosthetic limbs would serve as an initial step in introducing the concept of prosthetic legs to the public.
“Our design is also a product of a partnership with the Integrated Digital Design Lab (IDIG) in the Industrial Product Design Department at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS),” Menik, an instructor from the Biomedical Engineering Department, added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Aripin, M.Kom., the Head of the Biomedical Engineering Department, also supported the 1000 Hands movement in Semarang. Furthermore, he revealed that this program served as a continuation of the same 1000 hands movement in Surabaya. To contribute to the development of this program, the Biomedical Lab at Udinus will focus on the field of medical 3D design.
“Hopefully, these prosthetic limbs can further be utilized by other people with disabilities within Semarang. Thus, the prosthetic limbs produced by Udinus can fulfill the 1000 hands program in Semarang,” he hoped. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Dok. FT Udinus)
