Jamaicans.Biz » Eric Thorsell http://www.jamaicans.biz Profiles of Jamaicans doing big things locally and abroad Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:15:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Joel Sadler Designs The $20 JaipurKnee http://www.jamaicans.biz/joel-sadler-designs-the-20-jaipurknee/ http://www.jamaicans.biz/joel-sadler-designs-the-20-jaipurknee/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:21:28 +0000 http://www.jamaicans.biz/?p=11 Joel SadlerTens of thousands of amputees in the developing world wear an inexpensive prosthetic called the Jaipur Foot. However, poor patients who lose a knee joint have very few options: a titanium replacement can cost US$10,000, and crude models don’t work very well. Well, in 2009, along came Joel Sadler, a 25 year old Jamaican, who along with his Stanford University teammate, Eric Thorsell, designed the JaipurKnee, a dirt cheap US$20 solution that mimics the human joint’s natural movements. Time Magazine recently listed the JaipurKnee at #18 on their list of the Top 50 best inventions for 2009.

The JaipurKnee is made of self-lubricating, oil-filled nylon, and is both flexible and stable, even on irregular terrain. It comprises five pieces of plastic, and four nuts and bolts. It requires no special tools and takes just a few hours to manufacture. It is currently being tested in India.

But what about Sadler? Though he currently resides in California (where he attends Stanford University), USA, and has no immediate plans of returning to Jamaica, Sadler, a former Wolmer’s Preparatory and Campion College student, has said that he will continue to design products that would help Jamaica and other developing countries.

Kudos to yet another Jamaican making a valuable contribution to the world.

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