Google.org supports The Leprosy Mission Trust India to provide protective footwear for leprosy patients

TMLTI will use 3D scanning technology to produce customised protective footwear by utilising Google Grant Funds

The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMTI), an organisation that offers comprehensive health services to leprosy affected people, also provides  special protective footwear needed by people with leprosy to avoid harmful tissue breakdown and ulceration as well as to maintain the ability to walk. As part of this work, TLMTI will use the Google Grant Funds to create customised, cost-competitive protective footwear for people with leprosy using 3D scanning technology at two hospitals in Delhi and Bihar, linked to printing (computer-aided manufacturing) technology at a central fabrication facility in Maharashtra. The new technology would produce customised footwear delivered to patients in quick time. TLMTI plans to scale up the project to all its 14 hospitals over time. Through the technology-driven change of widespread use of 3D foot scans for customised protective footwear, thousands of people affected by leprosy prone to foot damage, lost livelihoods and stigma can live normal productive lives.

“Google.org is pleased to invest in the visions of Ratnanidhi Charitable Trust, Leprosy Mission Trust, and Public Health Foundation of India. Through their innovative applications of technology, these organisations are defining new solutions that will improve the lives of people with disabilities in India and around the world,” said Jacquelline Fuller, Director, Google.org.