Introduction: Prosthesis for Elephant Injured by a Landmine

About: The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR) is a not-for-profit organization that works in underserved and conflict-affected regions worldwide to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The CIR meets…

In order to provide care to Mosha, a Thai elephant who's right forelimb was severed by a landmine blast when she was just seven-months old, Dr. Therdchai Jivacate applied a modified version of the CIR Casting System. Mosha was fitted with her prosthesis by the staff at the staff of Prostheses Foundation at FAE's Elephant Hospital in Lampang, northern Thailand.

The CIR Casting System was developed at the Center for International Rehabilitation in order to provide low-cost, high-quality prosthetics to individuals who have undergone amputation and otherwise may not have access to prostheses. The technique replaces the Plaster-of-Paris bandages used in traditional prosthetic fabrication techniques with a fabric casting-bag filled with polystyrene beads. By placing the casting bag over the residual limb and evacuating the air, a negative mold is formed. The mold can then be removed from the residual limb and filled with sand (or plaster Mosha's case) to create a positive model that is then used to fabricate the final prosthetic socket. The technique allows for the creation of a properly fitted prosthesis in a single clinical visit, reduces the setup and maintenance costs, and eliminates the waste and cost associated with the use of Plaster-of-Paris in traditional methods. The innovative method of creating transradial sockets from plastic soda bottles was also developed at the CIR.

The contents of this presentation/publication were developed under a grant from the Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant number H133E030017. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.