Amazingly, the cost of producing one prosthetic socket from recycled plastic bottles is only £10, according to scientists - compared with the industry average of around £5,000 each! It could make artificial limbs more accessible to people in developing nations.
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Collaboration
Experts from the University of Salford in Manchester and De Montfort University in Leicester have collaborated on the project to make the first-ever prosthetic limb from recycled bottles.
Karthikeyan Kandan, De Montfort University's senior lecturer in mechanical engineering, came up with the idea. He discovered that by grinding the plastic bottles down, he could use the granulated material to spin polyester yarns. These can then be heated to form a lightweight, solid material to mould into prosthetic limbs.
Funded by the Global Challenges Research Funding organisation and the Academy of Medical Sciences, the breakthrough will address the problem of finding a happy medium between high-quality but expensive artificial limbs, and the current affordable prosthetic limbs that lack durability, according to Dr Kandan, who is also the university's Institute of Engineering Sciences' associate director.
Aid for poorer people
The project also involves Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahavata Samiti, a rehabilitation centre for disabled people, and Malaviya National Institute of Technology, the home of experts in prosthetic limbs. Both are in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, in India.
Many people in developing countries can't afford high-quality artificial limbs, even though they need them. The project is aimed at identifying readily-available, cheaper materials that can be used to assist these people.
Scientists from Southampton and Strathclyde universities have also been involved. The researchers leading the project have called it an "exciting development" that can have a massive impact on the way artificial limbs are provided in the future.
Trial scheme
The recycled plastic socket was manufactured at De Montfort University and was transported to India, where it was trialled with two patients. One had an amputation below the knee and the other's leg had been amputated above the knee.
The patients were said to be extremely impressed with the artificial limb, describing the prosthetic as being lightweight and easy to walk while wearing it. It also allowed air to flow around their leg - an advantage in India's hot climate.
Following the success of the pilot scheme, Dr Kandan is aiming to conduct a larger study, involving more people from different countries. He believes his design can be adapted to meet people's individual needs.
Positive impact
More than 100 million people across the world have had a limb amputated. Two of the major causes of lower-limb amputation are traffic accidents and diabetes. Many people living with a disability encounter significant difficulties in their daily life and there is a real need for an affordable prosthesis.
Around 80% of the affected disabled people are in low and middle-income brackets and would benefit greatly from a low-cost option prosthetic. Dr Kandan believes his work will help restore millions of amputees' mobility, having a positive impact on their health and welfare.
The use of waste plastic would also help the environment. Plastic water bottles are one of the biggest sources of pollution. Only around 7% are recycled and millions end up in landfill - or dumped in the ocean.
Dr Kandan described the statistics as "scary". He explained one of the major problems was that plastic bottles couldn't be recycled and used for the same purpose, so it was up to researchers to find new uses for them.
The results of the first trials on the recycled plastic prosthetic limbs were published in medical journals in August 2019. Further research will now be carried out to explore the viability of the invention for wider-scale use.
Prosthetic hands
Similar research has been taking place in Australia, where the not-for-profit organisation Envision Hands has been creating prosthetic limbs for kids. Innovator Sean Teer began saving bottle caps from landfill to create a product that will change children's lives.
Teer lives in the small community of Werribee, where he piloted his idea. By encouraging everyone to get involved, people are collecting the screw lids from milk bottles, soft drinks bottles and water bottles. To date, the local community has helped to collect more than one million caps.
The Coca-Cola Foundation gave them a grant for their work in community recycling. The plastic bottle tops are recycled into a filament and turned into prosthetic hands by using a 3D printer. It is a long and intricate process compared with ordinary 3D printing, as the plastic can be difficult to work with - but the end result is well worth the effort!
Patterns are deliberately colourful and specially designed to make the kids feel confident. One four-year-old superheroes' fan was given a prosthetic hand inspired by Batman. He loved it so much that his mum said it brought tears to her eyes when she saw him opening and closing his hand.
Teer said what had started out as one community scheme in Werribee had now gone viral across the whole of Australia, with thousands of people collecting plastic bottle tops to do their bit.
Solent Plastics fully supports recycling and stocks a large range of recycled plastic containers and recycling waste bins to help people with their own recycling initiatives.