Enhancing the lives of those who are disabled with high-tech low-cost medical devices

Objective: To assist in alleviating physical, psychological, and economical barriers faced by individuals with disabilities by providing high‐tech, low‐cost medical devices that minimize their disability. Vision: Phase 1 creates a shop that constructs wheelchairs designed for rough terrain. Phase 2 creates a high-tech, low cost hearing aids with solar-powered battery rechargers. Phase 3 develops the expertise and capacity to build prosthetics and orthotics. Philosophy: The bottom line is social good not financial gain (non-profit). Individuals with limitations will be hired to construct the devices that they use or need and a small fee will be charged for the devices to ensure the pride of ownership and based on what the family can afford (subsidies pay the rest). Description: Surveys and interviews determined the needs of those with disabilities. Partnerships were built within local cross-border organizations to help obtain commitments to subsidies, secure space to house all projects, secure funds to implement projects, and continue operations until self-sufficient. Medical devices were marketed targeting rural, tribal, and other communities lacking adequate terrain for conventional wheelchairs. Delivery: CECATI #118 vocational school in Nogales, Sonora provides free space and utilities. The non-profit shop, employing two wheelchair riding technicians, opened January, 2011 and can produce 15 chairs per month. Each chair is custom-fit to the rider and sold at cost, with commitments for subsidies obtained from DIF (Desarrollo-Integral-de-La-Familia), a Mexican social service agency. The hearing aid project will open February 2013. Grants are being developed to secure funds to begin the prosthetic shop.