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Traditional prosthetic devices pose significant financial barriers. The cost can range dramatically from $20,000 to $80,000, making access difficult for many, especially growing children. Children who use prosthetics often need new devices every 12 to 14 months as they outgrow their current limbs, which further compounds the financial burden.
This rampant expense underscores a critical challenge: the existing market dynamics do not incentivize companies to lower prices. The global prosthetics and orthotics industry is currently valued at around $6 billion, yet it remains largely dominated by a few major players. These companies have maintained largely unchanged business models for the past fifty years, with only incremental technological improvements rather than systemic change.