3D PrintAbility

The WHO estimates a gap of more than 42,000 prosthetic and orthotic (P&O) technicians to meet the current demand for assistive devices in the Global South. At today’s training rates, it would take decades to address this  deficit, and with disability prevalence increasing, there would still be insufficient health workers to meet demand. 3D PrintAbility (3DPA) is a comprehensive digital toolchain that makes P&O device production faster, easier and cheaper, while simultaneously providing rehabilitation workers’ transferable digital skills, improving work environments, decreasing training time, and aligning capacity in the Global South with the latest global industry trends. This innovation brings intuitive digital techniques to an overly conventional process, supporting and empowering more health workers to participate in P&O production. When scaled, 3DPA will dramatically improve rehabilitation professionals’ capacity and knowledge – and enable them to serve more clients with mobility impairments, thereby filling the production gap with more skilled workers. 

Rehabilitative care providers in the Global South continue to practice P&O device production methods from the 1970s. Using these traditional methods, it takes one trained technician a week to produce a single assistive device. Conventional production is extremely manual, with hand-molding, shaping and sawing to adjust devices multiple times to fit individuals with mobility impairments. The time-consuming process is also hazardous – plaster dust, heat guns, etc. combine to create an unclean, unsafe work environment for rehabilitation professionals. Only trained technicians can manufacture devices using traditional plaster-casting methods – but there is a global shortage of these health workers. Technician training programs do not even exist in 75% of the Global South. Fewer than 1,500 workers qualify as technicians annually worldwide – resulting in a chronic and growing deficiency, especially in low-income countries. With other healthcare workers excluded, and an expensive, lengthy, harmful production process creating minimal output, millions of people with mobility impairments lack access to these essential devices. Approximately 7,000 P&O technicians in the Global South need updated skills to ease, speed and improve their work, and their colleagues should be able to support device production to increase their own skills and better serve people in need. 

3D PrintAbility gives technicians in the Global South skills that ease, speed and improve their work, raises workplace health and safety standards and aligns with global industry trends. 3DPA enables the production of individualized P&Os in just one day, as opposed to one week using the plaster-casting process – a 500% efficiency increase. The software facilitates immediate device adjustment digitally, rather than wasteful, time-consuming manual revisions (molding, casting, etc.). A comprehensive digital toolchain, 3DPA is a turnkey solution for scanning, rectification and printing of P&O devices, which 90% of 38 million people with mobility impairments currently lack access to annually, due to limited supply and excessive cost. 3DPA’s digital CAD technology mimics traditional production so that technicians can be trained quickly. Other health workers can be trained in initial stages of 3DPA production to support technicians, further speeding production and developing their own skillsets. 3DPA can be used remotely (without internet), making mobile service provision – in rural areas or during crises when health center visits should be minimized – feasible. An online learning platform supports a community of practice among 3DPA users to share learnings, ask questions and develop skills through case studies, how-to videos and other exclusive content.

In our efforts to address this challenge, we have formed partnerships with numerous rehabilitation centers and industry players. The expense of device production – time, labor, material, space – is a constant concern for hospital managers, particularly when people with mobility impairments cannot even afford devices at-cost prices. Simultaneously, P&O technicians dislike the lengthy, messy plaster-casting process used to produce devices. These skilled workers do not want to practice in unclean, dangerous workshops, conducting strenuous manual tasks. During 3DPA research and development we engaged rehabilitation professionals worldwide, from ISPO leaders to training institutions to bench workers, to understand their needs. A digital solution changes the entire work experience of device production – increasing individuals’ technical capacity, reducing wasted time and supplies, streamlining processes and boosting the number of people that can be served, exponentially. We solicited further feedback from health workers during clinical trials; thereafter, adapting and improving 3DPA software and refining an online information-sharing portal to support continuous learning. As a technician in Uganda told us, “3DPA makes our work better.” Not only will 3DPA improve health workers’ digital skills and their workplaces, but it will also make rehabilitation centers more financially sustainable through increased service and reduced costs. 

In the Global South, with a higher disease burden and fewer healthcare providers, technology is essential to improve both health professionals’ work and increase their ability to serve those in need. 3DPA gives rehabilitation professionals transferrable digital skills that dramatically improves their work flow and work space. 3DPA equips health workers in the Global South with the same skills increasingly used by their counterparts worldwide – creating more equitable work conditions and promoting knowledge transfers for industry-wide improvements. With digital scanning and rectification software, 3DPA empowers even more health professionals to participate in device production and increase their own capacity.  

3D printing, as compared with subtractive milling or other computer-aided manufacturing techniques, can be used to fabricate extremely complex objects with very little waste. Research, development and use of 3D-printing technology for upper-limb prosthetics (less than 15% of assistive devices needed globally) has emerged over the past 10 years with progressive improvements. Alternatively, 3D devices for lower limbs (much more widely needed) have lagged behind due anatomical and engineering complexities. Several intricate 3D-printed device options – especially “bionic arms” – have emerged, at extremely exclusive costs. 3DPA’s focus solely on affordable lower-limb solutions is one unique aspect of our approach. 

3DPA is a turnkey solution for P&O providers, particularly in the Global South. While some organizations – Vorum, Ohio Willow Wood, Standard Cyborg – have developed components related to aspects of P&O production, none provide the holistic solution that Nia does. 3DPA enables the production of individualized, weight-bearing P&O devices. Custom-fitting devices, compared with mass-produced ones, are essential in weight-bearing devices to ensure mobility and improved health outcomes. Our use of FDM 3D-printing technology is distinguishable from other solutions because of its suitability for the Global South – with lower set-up costs, simplicity for less-skilled users and minimal material inputs. 3DPA includes new CAD software for scanning and rectification, and an innovative online learning platform. By designing and developing 3DPA intentionally for the Global South, our approach is more customized, user-friendly and responsive to the needs of healthcare workers, facilities and people with mobility impairments than other solutions.

3DPA is a complete digital toolchain for the production of individualized P&O devices. Its components include NiaScan, our sensor scanning software; NiaFit, our rectification and modelling software; and NiaNet, our online learning and workflow storage platform. All technologies are copyrighted and cannot be reverse engineered.       

NiaScan captures the geometry of an individual’s anatomical features, including color details. The color information is crucial in landmarking subdermal anatomical features that a technician would normally glean from physical assessment of a person in need of a device. NiaScan has been developed for use with a structure sensor scanner and iPad combination. 

NiaFit, now in its third iteration, employs very complex mesh CAD algorithms which have been built over top of Unity 3D – a real-time 3D development platform. NiaFit allows health workers to manipulate digital models with familiar tools, similar to those used in traditional production methods. NiaFit currently produces lower-limb prostheses and will be modified in the near future to assist in the production of other devices (e.g., upper-limb devices, cranial helmets, etc.). Nia is also planning to include machine-learning features to provide technicians with computer-generated design recommendations. NiaFit is compatible with a range of scanners and printers. 

NiaNet is a single sign-on user authentication system that allows for software distribution, workflow storage/sharing and case collaboration among health workers. Through NiaNet, Nia can coach and mentor health workers, build collaboration among health facilities, investigate unique cases and promote continuous learning – giving rehabilitation professionals additional resources and networks to hone their skills. 

3D-printing techniques emerged with other automated manufacturing solutions in the 1980s, predominantly for industrial applications, such as prototyping, and have since moved into new sectors, including healthcare. Medical uses for 3D printing are widespread – from cheaper surgical tool production to pre-operative planning and training to customized synthetic organs. 3D printing has a high adoption rate across sectors, and is a widely applied and accepted technology. 3DPA uses fused deposition modelling (FDM), which is the most widely adopted 3D technology, due to its efficiency and cost-effectiveness for P&O device production. 

Computer-aided design (CAD) technology advanced in the 1960s to create, modify and improve designs for manufacturing, construction and other engineering models. CAD helps automate design processes to improve the drafting and revision process, check interferences and calculations, and review and manage projects. CAD (including mesh CAD) software is extensively used across industries – from architecture to aerospace – and has had immense economic benefits across these sectors by increasing productivity and driving efficiency. 3DPA uses mesh CAD over Unity 3D, as described above, to ensure that P&O devices are custom-fitting for individuals in need.  

Please see our videos on Nia’s YouTube Channel (https://bit.ly/30RNrhj), including testimonials from P&O professionals (https://bit.ly/37BXkBa and https://bit.ly/30NxSau) describing Nia, its technology and its approach to deploying and supporting 3DPA. 

Our theory of change is simple: by transforming the P&O manufacturing process through a user-friendly, digital 3D-printing solution, we can increase the productivity of technicians by 500% and ultimately end the access gap to P&O devices for millions worldwide. By radically upgrading the skills of rehabilitation professionals with digital techniques, we will improve work environments, ease work processes and empower health workers. 3DPA will help rehabilitation workers in the Global South level their skillsets with their counterparts globally, prompting industry-wide alignment and improving global practices.  

Activities: 

• Install 3DPA in health facilities 
• Train technicians in digital processes for P&O production  
• Train other health workers in initial stages of digital production 
• Provide ongoing support and resources to rehabilitation workers via online platform

Outputs:

• 3DPA technology available on-site at rehabilitation facilities
• P&O workshops become cleaner and safer for workers 
• Reduced materials are needed for P&O production – less waste produced 
• Technicians gain digital skills through 3DPA  
• Other health workers participate in P&O production with new digital skills 
• Networks of 3DPA users form 

Short-term Outcomes: 

• More devices are produced – cleaner, easier, faster and cheaper 
• Health facilities’ P&O production becomes financially viable
• Rehabilitation workers are more confident, safer and happier in the workplace 
• Rehabilitation workers engage with one another to share knowledge and information 

Long-term Outcomes: 

• Rehabilitation professionals in the Global South have skills equal to their counterparts globally
• More health care facilities enter the P&O production market using digital technology 
• The production gap closes – more devices are supplied for cheaper 
• More people with mobility impairments can access essential P&O devices 

Implementation of 3DPA has demonstrated not only the wearability, durability and quality of our devices but also the improvements this digital solution provides for rehabilitation workers, health facilities and people with mobility impairments. Our clinical trial report, manufacturing tests and user feedback surveys are available on request. The WHO reports both health and wider socio-economic impacts of assistive device provision – for individuals who receive these essential P&Os as well as their families and communities. The widespread cross-sector benefits of inclusion, from higher GDP to more civic participation, are well-documented. 

With recent 3DPA installation at two East African hospitals, we have trained 30 rehabilitation professionals. These health workers have served 274 people with mobility impairments, impacting the lives of over 1,370 people. With the COVID-19 pandemic, service delivery has temporarily halted due to travel and care restrictions – limiting reach to date. Next year, we plan to train at least 200 additional rehabilitation workers directly and will reach more through facilities already implementing 3DPA. For instance, our Tanzanian partner started a 3DPA remote implementation pilot in refugee camps with three health centers. We expect to provide assistive devices for at least 2,250 people next year, impacting more than 11,000 people. In five years, we will fit more than 300,000 people with devices, impacting more than 1.6 million. 

We intend to scale 3DPA through a hub and spoke approach by first partnering with existing rehabilitation providers in Global South. As 3D printing commences and health workers’ skills improve, these sites will become model centers, training facilities and national production hubs. They will collaborate with other health facilities (‘spokes’) across their country/region to train other health workers in the initial stages of production – not only increasing client reach but also expanding interest in 3DPA. As costs lower, demand increases and awareness rises, more facilities will start 3D production directly – some becoming hubs themselves. Our current partners are supportive of this collaborative scaling strategy; with momentum building, 3DPA will impact thousands of health workers and millions of people with mobility impairments. 

We seek to install and implement 3DPA across the Global South in order to appropriately up-skill rehabilitation professionals with the latest industry trends and digital technical knowledge – creating healthier, safer and more efficient working environments and increasing access to quality individualized P&Os. According to the ISPO, there are currently about 7,000 trained technicians and roughly 400 new graduates annually in the Global South. 3DPA can update these professionals’ skills, improve their work environments, increase their capacity to serve and promote continuous learning. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 3DPA-trained technicians innovatively used our equipment to develop and 3D-print facial shields as personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

We have partnered with five health facilities to start 3DPA production in the coming years. These centers, along with the two East African facilities already implementing 3DPA, will become 3DPA hubs. As hospitals’ P&O workshops become more financially sustainable, additional health workers will be engaged to better meet their clients’ needs – therefore, 3DPA can be used to train new professionals continuously. Through our online learning platform, a community of practice uniting 3DPA users will supplement knowledge and skills, share best practices, and promote continued adaptation and technology improvements. This hub and spoke model can scale 3DPA in order to create sustainable impacts across national health systems – building a network of digitally-savvy rehabilitation professionals that can close the gap in device provision to essential P&Os for the 90% of 38 million people who annually lack access. 

The main barrier to our short and medium-term goals is financial. In the long-run, health centers will reduce costs by using 3DPA for P&O service provision, but the immediate expenses of installation, training and implementation may present barriers to entry for facilities in the Global South. Now, COVID-19 has increased the economic constraints facing both health facilities and individuals. 3DPA has minimized costs for adoption as much as possible, by using context-appropriate technology and ensuring a solution that is responsive to local needs, by engaging facilities and health workers in needs’ assessments and trials, but financial support is crucial to kick-starting this solution in low-income locations. 

While cultural or professional barriers to new technologies’ adoption may exist, trials and installations to date have not faced this challenge – most technicians seem excited to learn a digital production method and see immediate benefits to their work. Some health workers in the Global South have no, or minimal, digital experience but training can overcome this knowledge gap. Infrastructure challenges have emerged – such as low voltage stopping the printing process – but simple solutions, like back-up batteries or solar panels, have overcome them. 

Nia has noticed an overarching market barrier to change in the Global North. Rehabilitation workers are initially reticent to implement 3DPA and device users are reluctant to use a 3D-printed device rather than a traditional one. Adoption of digital production methods across the industry – worldwide – is important to reduce costs, increase knowledge and modernize this essential service. 

Nia Technologies, and its founding partner Hope and Healing International, are pursuing financial support to implement 3DPA in the Global South. Fundraising for grants from foundations, government agencies, corporate sponsors and others is on-going. Notably, 3DPA has been identified as a Top 100 solution for MacArthur’s 100&Change Competition, which seeks to identify impactful, durable, evidence-based and feasible solutions to pressing global problems (no award is made at this stage). Nia is also now creating a for-profit company to secure investors in order to support implementation in the Global South. The for-profit company could further develop 3DPA’s components (intellectual property) and sell the solution the Global North. Nia will retain a right to use 3DPA royalty free, and its revenue share of the profits will support new installations in the Global South.

To increase adoption, Nia takes every opportunity to present and exhibit at conferences, including the biennial ISPO World Congress. Nia has been featured in numerous print publications and digital media channels, promoting its innovations. Nia provides NiaFit software at no charge to training institutions wishing to explore digital P&O fabrication technologies with students. Nia engages with industry stakeholders at all levels. All of these efforts aim at seeding the market and promoting wider adoption of 3DPA. 

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Nia Technologies has two full-time and three part-time staff, and several volunteers that assist on an ad-hoc basis. Eleven experienced professionals make up Nia’s Board of Directors and Advisors. Hope and Healing International, Nia’s founding partner, continues to provide support to the organization as necessary; six of Hope and Healing’s 50 staff commit effort to 3DPA-related tasks, such as relationship-building or fundraising.   

Nia’s small team of experts are committed to improving the P&O industry in the Global South, for both rehabilitation workers and device users. Jerry Evans, Nia’s CEO, has more than two decades of executive experience – leading professional teams, managing large-scale finance ventures and advising across sectors. University of Toronto professor Matt Ratto, Nia’s Chief Science Officer, drives the scientific advances of 3DPA. With experienced engineers and designers constantly testing and improving aspects 3DPA, Nia’s team ensures quality and applicability. Khawar (Howie) Safeer, Nia’s software developer, has more than 10 years of software development experience, with an emphasis on Unity 3D and C#. Howie is the Nia’s chief software architect. Josh Qua Hiansen, is Nia’s Technical Project Manager and Trainer. Josh works for Nia on a part-time basis, simultaneously working for Toronto’s University Health Network where he is in charge of pre-surgical modelling.

Hope and Healing’s inclusive international development expertise – decades of work with 20+ partners worldwide – complements Nia’s skill sets through deep commitment to ensuring no harm and driving positive, sustainable change. Made up of a diverse group of medical, engineering, and development professionals, a Board of Directors and Advisors support 3DPA. These 11 distinguished experts include members like Dan Blocka, former International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) president, Dave Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Ontario, Laurie Lowe, Hope and Healing’s Partnership Director, and Dr. Norgrove Penny, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.

• CCBRT and CoRSU – two East African hospitals with national reach, currently implementing 3DPA. Other health facilities interested in implementing, or with potential to implement, 3DPA are also crucial partners (e.g., CHAZ, CBCHS and others). 
• Donors – Google Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada and AutoDesk Foundation supported R&D necessary for 3DPA. Hope and Healing International, Nia’s founding partner, continues to provide financial and other support. 
• University of Toronto – research partner for ensuring 3DPA is relevant, effective, reliable and impactful. 
• Sunnybrook Health Centre and St. John’s Rehab – research the use of 3DPA for production of temporary trans-tibial devices for recent amputees due to diabetic complications.
• Holland Bloorview – research and development of scanning technology for use in upper-limb trans-radial device production.
• West Park Health Centre – possible co-location at West Park for research and development of digital P&O technology in West Park’s workshop/laboratory (West Park has broken ground on a new $1.2B P&O centre of excellence); possible co-funding efforts with West Park for further R&D.
• Prince Sultan University (Saudi Arabia), Capital University (Pakistan) – research and collaboration agreements in place.

By equipping technicians with digital skills, 3DPA improves their efficiency and effectiveness to better serve people in need. 3DPA reduces manual processes and increases health and safety of P&O workshops. By reducing material inputs and empowering other health workers to participate in device production, 3DPA reduces health facilities’ costs. These reductions make rehabilitative care providers, particularly those in the Global South, more financially sustainable – a crucial outcome for fragile, over-stretched health systems. With lower costs, more health facilities can enter this essential service sector, increasing P&O device production exponentially. Increased production rates and lower production expenses will drive decreases in device costs for people living with mobility impairments. 

This shift will provide more people in need of devices access them – particularly crucial for children with disabilities who need, on average, 25 customized devices throughout their lifetime. The WHO reports that with access to assistive devices, not only does the health and well-being of individuals improve, but also other socio-economic indicators. A prosthetic limb allows a child – previously unable to walk to school – gain an education, make friends and secure a brighter future. An orthotic fitted to a working mother reduces her pain, strengthens her civic engagement and raises her income-earning capacity. These individual quality of life improvements have ripple effects across families and communities, as care-giving responsibilities are reduced and other gains from increased inclusion extend. The ILO estimates, for instance, that if people with disabilities were employed, countries’ GDPs would increase by 3-7%. 

We are seeking grants to support immediate installation and implementation of 3DPA in the Global South, as noted above. Once production at these sites reaches scale, they will be independently sustainable and will not require continued financial support. We are also in the process of creating a separate for-profit company to secure investors in 3DPA. As detailed below, this for-profit will generate revenue through the sale of Nia’s intellectual property to institutions in the Global North – to further develop and innovate this technology. Profits from the for-profit company will be split between investors and Nia Technologies – enabling Nia to continue to support 3DPA implementation in the Global South.  

Several reasons prompted our application to Solve. First, we want to raise awareness about this innovative and impactful solution for P&O professionals in the Global South – to not only empower them but also reach more people living with mobility impairments. As noted above, this solution faces an overarching market barrier of reticence among some health workers and people living with mobility impairments. Change requires active engagement – so we would love the Solve community to support us in growing knowledge, understanding and awareness of 3DPA to drive this market shift. We’ve proven the benefits of this solution – for rehabilitation professionals, health facilities and people in need of devices – now, we need support to get it in action.  

We are also seeking financial support for scaling to new facilities and new countries – both grant funding and investors are of interest. We are keen to explore novel partnerships that can improve and expand our work – to adapt 3DPA further, advise on implementation, continue to investigate long-term impact and, overall, generate a community of engaged supporters for this bold solution. 

As a non-profit charitable organization, we value collaborative partnerships across all aspects of our work. We would love the opportunity to engage with organizations that can generate interest, awareness and excitement about this solution. In order to successfully revolutionize the P&O industry, we require partner health facilities willing to embrace this technology and implement it. Finally, we seek innovative, inspired donors and investors to help us finance this solution. 

• International Committee of the Red Cross – The ICRC method of, and supplies for, P&O fabrication are used worldwide in low-income countries. 3DPA printed devices interfaces with ICRC componentry. Nia would like to form closer ties with the ICRC to encourage wider adoption.
• CURE and other hospital networks – CURE’s network of 12 hospitals in low-income countries, all of which focus on care for people living with disabilities is an ideal implementing partner for 3DPA. Hope and Healing, Nia and CURE are jointly seeking funding for deployment of 3DPA in these facilities.  
• Training Institutions – We would like to collaborate with P&O technician training institutions (universities, commissions, centers) worldwide to get an accredited 3DPA curriculum included in health workers’ training. 
• Solver Teams – Our partner health facilities would benefit from the support of Solver teams like mVBRI and Doxper, who can improve their rehabilitative care services, and we would love to make more connections like this.
• MIT Centers, Institutes and Labs – Nia could benefit from engagement with many of MIT’s various intitiatives, including the Lab for Manufacturing and Productivity, Computer Science and AI Lab, and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, among others. We would love to further develop and evaluation our technology with MIT experts. 

The WHO, ILO and UN, among others, confirm that assistive P&O devices are necessary to ensure the economic inclusion for people with disabilities We have recently trained 20 health workers providing rehabilitative services in three long-standing refugee camps in Tanzania with CCBRT, our implementing partner there. Until now, health clinics in the camps (and even facilities in the host communities) have not been able to provide customized devices for the estimated 5,000 refugees with mobility impairments – leaving them excluded from community, social and economic activities. With 3DPA, we are providing assistive devices that enable them to go to markets, earn incomes and travel. There is immense potential to expand remote service delivery with 3DPA to other refugee camps worldwide. Our partners in Kenya and Uganda are already prepared to implement such an initiative. With support from the Andan Prize, Nia will collaborate with health facilities providing P&O services and expand their capacity to serve these hard-to-reach communities in refugee camps. The prize will help Nia demonstrate 3DPA’s value add to health service delivery in the Global South, a critical factor in promoting adoption and improving this industry for rehabilitation workers, health facilities and people living with mobility impairments, including the refugee population. 

3DPA technology supports both female health workers and women living with disabilities. Women make up more than 70% of healthcare workers globally – this is no different for rehabilitative care. Nia will upskill these female workers with transferrable digital skills that can ease, speed and improve their work. In addition to supporting the advancement of female health workers, this solution can undoubtedly improve the lives of millions of women and girls living with mobility impairments. With assistive devices, women with disabilities gain independence – they can engage in their communities, open businesses or advance their education, participate in political or religious activities and, overall, better harness their rights. Girls with mobility impairments who receive a 3DPA device are able to go to school, play with friends and help their families. With this prize, we would specifically target female health workers for training, ensuring that their skills are upgraded and competitive with their male counterparts. The Innovation for Women Prize will expand Nia’s capacity to support working women – both rehabilitation health workers and women and girls with disabilities working at school, home and/or businesses. 

By increasing the digital knowledge and skills of health workers in the Global South, Nia is promoting equity across the P&O industry’s workers. Nia’s online learning platform, NiaNet, creates a global community of practice of health workers – giving these professionals networks and resources to advance. With the tools and techniques 3DPA provides rehabilitation workers, their increased efficiency and productivity makes them more important to their health facilities, particularly as they impact the bottom line. The GM Prize would enable Nia to work with a training institution to accredit a 3DPA training curriculum, which would extend the reach of 3DPA faster. Additional engineering support from this prize could help 3DPA adapt and advance its technologies further.    

3DPA advances the digital literacy of health workers in the Global South, who often have minimal or no digital skills. As digital technology becomes increasingly important in healthcare settings – from patient data collection to telemedicine – it is crucial that rehabilitation workers learn these skills. Health workers from the Global South are being left behind without these digital tools, while serving their clients with outdated skills reduces the quality of care provided. With approximately 7,000 P&O technicians, and thousands of other rehabilitation workers, providing crucial services to people living with mobility impairments in the Global South, this prize could support more 3DPA installations and trainings at more health facilities. We are currently exploring several partnerships with health facilities in Europe, for implementation of, or further research on, 3DPA. We are interested in collaborations with Portuguese P&O, research and other institutions.   

As mentioned above, we have started to use machine learning to improve the decision-making capacity of health workers when using 3DPA. This innovation will further speed up and improve the work of rehabilitation professionals and increase the customization of the devices – producing even better fit and comfort for people living with impairments. Nia’s collaborations with research organizations, universities and world-class rehabilitation clinics continue to support 3DPA’s technological advances. Support from the AI for Humanity Prize will enable Nia to conduct further R&D on Nia’s machine learning implementation plans. We will develop additional online data repositories containing an ever-growing set of anonymized patient outcomes that will allow us to build contextually driven interactive machine learning advice facilities in our mesh CAD modelling software.  

As mentioned above, Nia Technologies is creating a for-profit entity (NewCo) to sell NiaFit and other software in a software as service model. We are seeking investment of up to and including 1.3m USD for a 40% equity interest in NewCo. We expect a pre-tax IRR of 30%. Nia would use its share of revenues to ensure on-going installations and implementations in the Global South.