Proposed standards for prosthetic foot reuse and considerations for donation of used prosthetic feet to low-and middle-income countries.

Abstract

Prosthetic components from high-income countries (HICs) are often replaced not because they are broken, but because of guidelines or expired warranties, meaning they may still be usable. As most HICs classify prostheses as single patient multi-use devices, components are often disposed of or donated to low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) where medical device regulatory frameworks are limited or non-existent. A lack of standards guaranteeing the quality of donated prosthetic components coul