The Artificial Limb Centre (ALC), Pune, inaugurated the Continuing Rehabilitation Education (CRE-2025) programme, bringing together leading military and civilian experts in surgery, rehabilitation medicine, prosthetics, orthotics, biomedical engineering, and policy. Conceived as a forward-looking platform, CRE-2025 aims to advance holistic amputee care and strengthen India’s rehabilitation landscape through structured training, knowledge exchange, and innovation.
The event opened in the presence of distinguished guests, including Sminu Jindal, Managing Director of Jindal Saw Ltd and Founder Director of Svayam Foundation, who attended as the chief guest. Senior Armed Forces leaders such as Admiral Anupam Kapur, Gen PP Rao, Gen Nambiar, Gen Srivastava, Gen Radhakrishnan, Gen Atul Seth, Gen Bindra, MGEME, and Commandants of ALC and MH Kirkee also graced the inauguration.
Delivering the keynote address, Surge Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, AVSM, VSM, Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS), said the CRE symbolised far more than a scientific event. “It is a reaffirmation of our covenant with every soldier and citizen who trusts us with their recovery. Even if a limb is lost, hope will not be lost,” she said. She emphasised ALC’s crucial role across the continuum of amputee care, noting that surgical trainees are taught optimal amputation techniques to ensure better long-term outcomes, because “in amputation surgery, the first chance is the best chance.”
CRE-2025 featured sessions on orthopaedic advancements, upper-limb disability management, neurorehabilitation, next-generation prosthetics and orthotics, 3D-printed prosthetic solutions, and emerging brain–computer interface technologies. A hands-on workshop on immediate post-operative prosthesis, an essential skill for young surgeons and prosthetists, was a key highlight.
Outlining a roadmap to elevate ALC into a National Centre of Excellence for Amputee Rehabilitation, the DGAFMS stressed the need for structured training programmes, research collaborations, innovation hubs, national registries, and indigenous high-performance prosthetics, supported by tele-rehabilitation and expanded services for both defence personnel and civilians.
Despite rapid technological advancements, Vice Admiral Sarin noted that the heart of rehabilitation remains human, restoring mobility, identity, dignity, and purpose. She commended the CRE-2025 Organising Committee and the ALC team for delivering a visionary programme that strengthens India’s med-tech and rehabilitation ecosystem.
