The Humanitarian Tech Hub
Gregory Huot presents the research to ICRC President, Peter Maurer. © Alain Herzog
In 2016, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the EPFL launched a joint research and development program: the Humanitarian Tech Hub. As part of this collaboration, an ambitious project, called Agilis, aiming to develop an affordable dynamic prosthetic foot has made promising progress. Gregory Huot (GH), the EPFL engineer in charge of the project Agilis and Dikolela Kalubi (DK), the ICRC engineer in charge of the partnership between ICRC & EPFL tell us more about it
What are the objectives of the project Agilis?
GH: Prosthetic feet are in constant evolution: made of wood and foam decades ago researchers are now focusing on bionic prosthetic limbs that will be brain-controlled in a near future. The introduction of carbon fibre composite feet starting from the mid 80’s was a real game changer and this technology is considered as a must when talking about active users nowadays. Unfortunately and as it is often the case with advanced technologies, these prostheses remain inaccessible to a vast majority of disabled people living in conflict-affected areas and low-income countries due to their high price. Moreover, even if everyone could afford such high-end products they are generally not designed to be used in harsh environments and cannot avoid the stigma of disability since their appearance is often not very similar to a human foot.
The main goal of this project is to design a dynamic prosthetic foot that every active user can afford. This foot will behave in a similar manner as high-end products by allowing people to walk longer and faster on uneven grounds without difficulty during their daily activities. As the stigma of disability often prevent disabled people from socioeconomic integration, the development work also includes a real-looking cosmetic shell.
What is the project status currently?
GH: Three EPFL research laboratories (LMAM; LPAC; LMAF) and the EssentialTech program of EPFL’s Centre for Cooperation and Development (total: 11 people) have been working together since the beginning of 2017 on the academic side, alongside with four ICRC experts and a Swiss manufacturer which currently produces orthopaedic components for the ICRC. In October 2017, the first prototypes have been produced and tested. So far, the results have been very promising. Everyone has showed a great passion and commitment and is eager to continue to move forward so we can be successful and present the newly developed foot by the end of 2018.
What are the differences between this project and other similar initiatives?
GH: The role of the ICRC to make rehabilitative devices more widely available– by introducing low-cost, high-quality technology has been internationally recognized. ICRC partners with EPFL which is ranked amongst the best research institutes worldwide; there is no doubt that such a partnership dramatically increases the chance of success! The involved laboratories show demonstrated knowledge and international recognition; it is a true chance to have reputed professors on board. We are not talking about a short term student work here but about a multidisciplinary development project involving a whole team and significant investment.
In addition, the project follows the approach of the EssentialTech Programme of EPFL’s Cooperation & Development Center, which relies on entrepreneurship and system engineering to maximize the impact of a technology innovation on society. To achieve this impact on a large scale, great attention is paid to the technology’s sustainability (value chain analysis), as well as the business model for a durable deployment.
What other activities is the hub working on?
DK: The hub has been focusing on four main activities. The first one is the development and test of new tools and equipment for humanitarian action. At the moment, the prosthetic foot project is biggest in terms of financial, HR and time resources involved. In parallel, we also have other projects related to water resource or ICT. The second focus is on exploratory research on technical topics to support humanitarian operations. For instance, a research on a safe alternative method of water treatment in urban areas affected by armed conflicts has been carried out. The results are currently used by ICRC engineers. The third focus is on education. In collaboration with EPFL, EAWAG, we have launched this month a MOOC on “public health engineering in humanitarian contexts”. It is an excellent opportunity for EPFL students to know more on how they could use their technical skills in humanitarian contexts.
The last focus is on outreach activities. As a hub, one of the goals is to foster interactions between experts from various disciplines and regions in order to promote research and development of innovations that are useful for humanitarian action. So, people in the EPFL community, who are interested in sharing their idea and interested in getting more information on humanitarian challenges, are more than welcome to contact us at CODEV’s Humanitarian Tech Hub!