How it began
The Jaipur foot was developed in 1968 at Sawai Man Singh Medical College in Jaipur, Rajasthan, by a team led by the orthopedic surgeon Pramod Karan Sethi. The team at the college's rehabilitation center also included S. C. Kasliwal, Mahesh Udawat and the master craftsman Ram Chandra Sharma. Sethi asked Sharma to design the foot, and Sharma made one that resembled a natural human foot with toes. A cycle repairer, Chugga Bhai, who knew how to vulcanize old tires, helped him cast the first one in natural rubber. The first patient received it in 1968.
Before it existed
Indian doctors treating amputees first chose the solid-ankle cushioned-heel (SACH) foot from a German manufacturer. It lacked the ankle flexion needed by rural villagers working on uneven surfaces, and it did not suit people who often go barefoot, squat, and sit on the floor. In early studies the SACH design was rejected by 80 percent of patients.
How it works
Sharma chose rubber because rubber automobile tires are long-lasting and can take rough roads. The present foot uses two blocks of microcellular rubber and an ankle section of lightweight willow wood, with nylon cords embedded in the rubber. More rubber covers these parts to give the form of a human foot and to add flexibility and shock absorption. An outer cosmetic layer has the color and texture of skin. From 1982 the team added a polyethylene socket with a soft insert. The foot is water resistant and can be fitted in as little as a day.
How it spread
In 1975 Devendra Raj Mehta founded Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) in Jaipur, a nonprofit that fits limbs free of charge. Growth was slow at first: it took seven years to fit the first 50 limbs and seven more to reach 10,000. By 2016 BMVSS had 23 centers in India, had fitted more than 1.45 million amputees, and had held more than 50 fitting camps in 27 countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Honduras, Rwanda and Vietnam.
Where it stands today
IEEE Pulse reported in 2016 that the foot cost about 50 US dollars to make and lasted the average user around 3.7 years, and that about 65,000 people a year received one. Stanford University designed a four-bar polycentric knee joint, the Stanford Jaipur knee, costing about 20 US dollars to make in India, and work with MIT, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian Institutes of Technology was under way on new designs and lighter materials.
