Groundbreaking prosthetic designer wins $100,000 Science Foundation grant

Elkins Innovations won a $100,000 National Science Foundation grant to test a technology that allows amputees to control a prosthetic hand with their feet.
Right now, one male and one female amputee are using the prototype for two weeks to see how easy they are to use.

Early tests already show that the device is easier to use and more effective than the current offerings. The technology holds enormous promise for amputees to greatly expand the movements in a prosthetic hand.

“People in the industry are very optimistic about this technology,” said Sally Mulder, CEO of Elkins Innovations.

Elkins also is working on a new prosthetic hand that will allow the user to move individual fingers and have far more control than any existing prosthetic device to be used in conjunction with the foot-control technology.

The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency created by Congress. It is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research. Elkins Innovations is located in the West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative’s New Venture Center in the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in Grand Rapids.

In addition to the funding received from the NSF, the company also received $15,000 in matching funds from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. under its Emerging Business Fund.

Source: Sally Mulder, Elkins Innovations; West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative New Venture Center