Repair and maintenance practices of upper-limb prosthetics

A study of almost two decades of repair logs at a limb-fitting centre in India (2021-2022)

Prosthetics have enabled a large section of society with disabilities to obtain or regain occupational health. The diversity in prosthetics technology has helped bridge the gap in access to built environments and economic opportunities compared with persons without the same disabilities. However, the evolution of prosthetics technology for comfort and usability has been mired by the lack of systems and services to promote equitable access and longevity of the devices in low resource settings. Devices are often donated by humanitarian organizations in countries where access to repair services are limited or non existent. This either promotes abandonment of devices or frugal repair practices that have a limited effect on maintaining functional use.

This repair study, conducted by the Natural Interactions Lab, University of Oxford in partnership with Mobility India, involved analysing repair and maintenance records from a tertiary limb-fitting centre in India. Records were obtained as anonymised hand-written registers as well as digital entries and converted to a digital dataset. The dataset was then statistically analysed for demographic characteristics of the patients, devices used, and patterns in repair and maintenance logs.

The study identified significant economic, geographical and design challenges to the repair and maintenance of the devices used. The lack of suitable services in remote areas prevented timely access to repair. Manufacturers did not provide spare components for repairs. Users were reliant on replacements rather than repair for continued occupational health. The cost of the devices and repair pathways as compared with daily wage rates made prosthetics unaffordable for many prospective users with disabilities.

A publication of the research study is in progress.