This summer, 15 Mercer University students travelled to Vietnam with by Dr. Ha Van Vo, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and Dr. Ramachandran Radharamanan, professor of industrial engineering to provide low-cost prosthetics to amputees. The group fitted and distributed Mercer-designed prosthetic legs, which can be produced for as little as $200. The group was one of seven Mercer On Mission ’09 teams.

The project is part of a three-year initiative by Mercer to provide amputees with low-cost prosthetics that can be fitted without having to be fully customized. Because amputees in developing countries cannot afford expensive customized prosthetics, they often go without them. The group is also training local medical personnel to adapt the prosthetics to fit individual amputees. Eventually, Mercer will expand the program to Thailand and India.