Tunisian AI expertise to benefit Africans in need of artificial limbs

Tunisian AI expertise to benefit Africans in need of artificial limbs

TUNIS: Mohamed Dhaouafi began researching prosthetics in 2016 as part of a university project. He swiftly realized there was a lack of readily available and affordable prosthetics, with artificial hands costing up to $50, 000. After finishing his studies, Dhaouafi, 28, ran a startup incubator ZETA HUB at a private university to earn an income while continuing his work on prosthetics. He launched CURE Bionics in late 2018, going full time with his Sousse-based startup in 2019. Having made multiple prototypes to perfect the design of its prosthetics, the five-strong team decided to launch its products commercially in the first half of 2021. "We want people using our prosthetics to be satisfied and use it in a practical way — we want our patients to be able to rely on our prosthetics and to guarantee they will last," said Dhaouafi, CURE's CEO. "We're making some final improvements and will then launch a pilot. If that goes well, we'll quickly launch in Tunisia before expanding abroad. Tunisia is a tough market, so if we succeed here, we can succeed elsewhere." "People generally feel comfortable wearing a prosthetic, but controlling it is very difficult and complicated. Ours are easy to use since