At the "Hope for Technology" forum, dedicated to modern Russian developments for the rehabilitation of people in need of prostheses, the company "Modesta" demonstrated its achievements. "Modesta", a Skolkovo resident, has been on the market for about three years and is engaged in the creation of upper limb prostheses up to the forearm level, as well as the development of hand prostheses.
The company began its development with the design of five-fingered prostheses, but due to their low grip efficiency, focused on non-anthropomorphic models.
We are for grip efficiency. At first we made five-fingered prostheses, but when we started installing them, we noticed that there was no grip efficiency. Therefore, we went in the direction of prostheses that do not look like a human hand.
The designer Ilya, who previously collaborated with AvtoVAZ, is responsible for the bright appearance of the prostheses. "Modesta" prostheses are mainly traction type, working due to mechanics — elbow brace or shoulder cuff.
"Modesta" pays special attention to ease of use and user involvement in the process of learning how to work with the prosthesis. For this purpose, a Bluetooth module has been developed, integrated with a mobile application that tracks the number of hours of prosthesis use per day using an accelerometer and gyroscope. The company is introducing elements of gamification: users will be able to "earn" virtual coins for actively using the prosthesis and exchange them for various accessories or even replace the wearable prosthesis.
Due to which it is possible, for example, to change the overlays, change the limb: claws, fingers, branches. You can call them differently. Make some improvement. But this is still in demo version, it is only planned to test.
In addition, "Modesta" presented a robot capable of performing auxiliary functions, such as delivering food or accompanying patients to procedures. The development began with a request from the Elizaveta Center, where there is a shortage of low-skilled personnel. The robot can communicate, answer questions and display information on the screen. The robot is equipped with two grippers: a model with an opening width of 80 mm for the right hand and a gripper with an opening width of 110 mm for the left. The compression force is 207 newtons (about 20 kg), which exceeds similar solutions from other companies.
The production of prostheses is fully carried out in Russia, in the city of Kurgan. However, some electronic components are still purchased abroad.
You can replace some drives with Russian production. Micro-drives are available, but their cost is much higher and there is no community. If, for example, people buy Chinese drives, and there are many of them, they can talk about the disadvantages. Unfortunately, Russian production does not have this yet. We really want this to develop and we will be one of the first to start using Russian components when we understand that it is possible.
The company's developments are already finding application, including among the youngest users, such as three-year-old Dima, who successfully uses the company's prosthesis.
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