Abdul Karim

Nigerian inventor creating affordable prosthetics using 3D printing technology

Abdul Karim is a Nigerian biomedical engineer whose 3D-printed prosthetics have transformed amputee care in West Africa. Born in Lagos in 1992, he developed his first low-cost prosthetic limb at age 16 after witnessing the struggles of amputees in local hospitals. In 2015 he founded AbleTech Africa, which uses locally sourced recycled materials and 3D printing to produce custom limbs at 10% of international market prices.

His innovative BioFit system uses smartphone apps to scan patients' residual limbs and AI algorithms to optimize prosthetic designs. This approach reduced production time from weeks to 24 hours and enabled mass customization. By 2023, Karim's team had provided over 15,000 prosthetics across Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal through mobile clinics.

Karim's work addresses the WHO estimate that 95% of African amputees lack access to prosthetics. His TED Talk "Rebuilding Lives, One Print at a Time" has over 2 million views. He collaborates with MIT's D-Lab on open-source prosthetic designs and trains local technicians through AbleTech Academy. The Nigerian government recently adopted his standards for national healthcare systems, marking the first national policy change based on his innovations.