IIT Madras launches first affordable, Made-In-India prosthetic knee called 'Kadam'

IIT Madras researchers have launched the country's first affordable and Made-in-India prosthetic knee called 'Kadam' which can transform the lives of thousands of above-knee amputees.

IIT Madras researchers have launched the country’s first Made-in-India polycentric prosthetic knee. Called ‘Kadam’, the affordable prosthetic knee can transform the lives of thousands of above-knee amputees through not just mobility with ease, but also increased community participation, access to education, livelihood opportunities and overall well-being.

It was developed by a team at TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) at IIT Madras, which also developed and commercialized ‘Arise,’ the country's first standing wheelchair and NeoFly-NeoBolt, an active wheelchair and motorized add-on for seamless indoor-outdoor mobility.

The WHO states that only 1 in 10 people in need, have access to assistive technology and they are not available in adequate numbers and at affordable prices.

R2D2 headed by Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan has been working to fill that gap.

R2D2 is involved in research related to human movement, and the design and development of rehabilitation and assistive devices for people with movement impairments.

The R2D2 centre engineers user-centric affordable products for rehabilitation needs in India and beyond, works with clinical specialists, NGOs, and hospitals, among others, to field-test the designs, and fosters a research environment to evaluate assistive device designs from biomechanical and functional standpoints.

The polycentric knee has been developed in association with Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) and Mobility India.