Tanzania is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D technology to speed up the design and production of assistive devices, as specialists seek to improve rehabilitation services and make them more accessible.
The developments were highlighted during the Fourth Rehabilitation Summit in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, September 17, 2026, where specialists discussed technology and artificial intelligence in rehabilitation, focusing on how innovation could improve service delivery and access to assistive devices.
Clinical audiologist at HearWell Audiology Clinic, Ali Jaffer, said advances in technology had transformed hearing aids from devices that simply amplified sound into smart tools capable of responding to users’ surroundings. ‘The basic purpose is the same: you take sounds, you increase the volume, and you put those sounds in the ear,’ he said.
However, he said modern hearing aids could analyse their surroundings in real time and adjust their response depending on whether users were in noisy places such as restaurants, clubs or conferences.
‘With hearing aids of today, you can connect your phones to them. It’s basically like wearing AirPods all the time,’ said Mr Jaffer.
He said cochlear implants could also connect directly to televisions, mobile phones and audiobooks, helping people with hearing difficulties participate in education, healthcare and the workplace.
Technology is also being used to speed up the production of customised hearing devices, with Mr Jaffer saying 3D printing had reduced the time needed to make and fit custom ear moulds from about six hours to one hour.
‘We 3D print custom ear moulds for every patient when they take hearing aids,’ he said.
The use of AI also extends to prosthetic production, where specialists are developing systems that can predict the shape of devices based on patients’ physical measurements.
From Radboud University in the Netherlands, Dr Merel Van der Stelt said an AI system could use a 3D scan of a patient’s limb to predict the shape of a prosthetic socket before it was produced.
‘We make a 3D scan of the limb, then we design the prosthesis in approximately two or three minutes,’ she said.
Dr Van der Stelt said the technology was developed to make prosthetic production more standardised and reduce reliance on specialised expertise.
She said data collected in Tanzania was being used to improve the system, with further collaboration with local universities needed to adapt the technology and incorporate it into education and research.
But while technology can speed up production, affordability remains a major challenge.
The founder of RoverLabs Tanzania, Dr Atish Shah, said the initial cost of introducing new technologies could be high, but prices could fall as production increases and manufacturers benefit from economies of scale.
‘Once you get the volumes of patients, you start getting the price coming down,’ he said.
Dr Shah said insurance coverage could also help people with disabilities access assistive devices without bearing the full cost themselves.
He said RoverLabs was negotiating with insurance companies to have its devices covered, which he said would widen access among people enrolled in health insurance schemes.
‘If we are in that, people with disabilities would have a clear advantage because they won’t be paying from their pockets,’ he said.