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VHP is leading the charge to make upper-limb prosthetics accessible to everyone in need around the world, through a robust and growing ecosystem of tech-enabled partners that support its mission. We’ve worked with the established medical and social impact community to accelerate and expand prosthetic services, and have built a global network of prosthetists around the world providing hundreds of 3d printed limbs every year to those who need them most, for less than $300 each.
Our colleagues at LimbForge, a U.S.-based nonprofit, have worked with us on this innovation journey, founded on a simple truth: software, design, and innovative manufacturing with 3D scanning and 3D printing. These are critical drivers to developing and delivering high quality, affordable, and culturally appropriate prosthetics at scale.
LimbForge has developed and deployed a platform that enables clinicians to spend less time customizing devices, and more time treating more patients. Their platform provides more life-like designs that help patients blend in and thrive, lowers costs, and also delivers ultra lightweight, culturally-appropriate prostheses to populations who need them most. The Limbforge platform can be used to size and deploy other designs beyond its existing catalog. In fact, once a prosthetic design is in the database, it can be easily configured to fit nearly any human anatomy on Earth.
Together with Limbforge, we will be even more successful at fulfilling our mission to provide better prosthetic choices to those who need them most.
● Patients First: VHP will expand its ability to meet each patient’s unique need by offering the more cosmetically realistic LimbForge arm alongside our practical and successful VHP hand series that’s optimized for action and function. Patients will now have more choice in the form and function of a prosthetic that best fits their needs.
● Impact at Scale: By integrating the innovative parametric design platform of the LimbForge arm into our production workflow, we expect to accelerate the ability of global caregivers to reach and help more people. And, by combining these technologies, we will be able to simplify our supply chain and realize manufacturing efficiencies at scale that help us continue lowering our costs.
● Efficient alignment: VHP and Limbforge have complementary capabilities to address a shared goal. Rather than compete for scarce philanthropic and technical resources, we are aligning our efforts to focus our efforts on patients and solutions.
“We’re thrilled to give our patients a voice in the type of prosthetic solution that will best meet their needs, and our combined offering will let us serve more patients, more effectively. Offering the LimbForge prosthetics will let us shorten go-to-market timeline for new prosthetic services and geographies, which is a priority on our technology roadmap,” said Nick Dechev, Executive Director, VHP. “This represents a leapfrog moment for our team and we are eager to further integrate and advance LimbForge technology to better meet global demand for high-quality prosthetics,” said Michael Peirone, COO, VHP.
Justine Trubey, CEO of LimbForge, notes, “LimbForge joining VHP is a win for patients around the world, medical professionals, and the movement to dramatically increase access to affordable prosthetic care. Together we satisfy both sides of the need: LimbForge minimizes the appearance of limb difference, opening the door for more social integration, where the VHP solution has unparalleled design, optimized for action and broad application. I was convinced from our first meeting that we needed to join forces with VHP to leverage and consolidate research, learning, and high-quality service.”
As part of the move, Andreas Bastian, Founder and CTO, LimbForge, and Justine Trubey, CEO, LimbForge, will join VHP as Advisors and continue to provide strategic guidance on future development. Limbforge, Inc. will dissolve as an independent entity effective December 31, 2018, and will transfer its remaining assets to VHP.