David Sengeh: The sore problem of prosthetic limbs

Translator: Mojca Miklavec Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

I was born and raised in Sierra Leone,

Rodil sem se in odraščal v Sierri Leone,

a small and very beautiful country

v majhni in čudoviti državi

in West Africa,

v Zahodni Afriki,

a country rich both in physical resources

v državi, bogati tako z materialnimi viri

and creative talent.

kot s kreativnim talentom.

However, Sierra Leone is infamous

Vendar pa je Sierra Leone razvpita

for a decade-long rebel war in the '90s

zavoljo desetletne uporniške vojne v 90-ih,

when entire villages were burnt down.

ko so bile celotne vasi požgane.

An estimated 8,000 men, women and children

Po ocenah so 8000-im možem, ženam in otrokom

had their arms and legs amputated during this time.

v tem času amputirali roke ali noge.

As my family and I ran for safety

Ko sem s svojo družino bežal na varno,

when I was about 12 from one of those attacks,

star približno 12 let, pred enim od teh napadov,

I resolved that I would do everything I could

sem dal zaobljubo, da bom naredil vse, kar bo v moji moči,

to ensure that my own children

da poskrbim, da mojim otrokom

would not go through the same experiences we had.

ne bo potrebno izkusiti tega, kar je doletelo nas.

They would, in fact, be part of a Sierra Leone

Oni bodo zares del Sierre Leone,

where war and amputation

ko vojna in amputacije

were no longer a strategy for gaining power.

ne bodo več del strategije za pridobivanje moči.

As I watched people who I knew, loved ones,

Ko sem gledal znance, najdražje,

recover from this devastation,

kako so si opomogli od opustošenja,

one thing that deeply troubled me

me je globoko vznemirjalo to,

was that many of the amputees in the country

da mnogi od amputirancev v državi

would not use their prostheses.

niso uporabljali svojih protez.

The reason, I would come to find out,

Razlog – sem izvedel –

was that their prosthetic sockets

je bil v ležiščih za njihove proteze,

were painful because they did not fit well.

ki so povzročala bolečine, ker se niso dobro prilegala.

The prosthetic socket is the part

Ležišče protoze je tisti del,

in which the amputee inserts their residual limb,

kamor amputiranec vstavi krn preostalega uda

and which connects to the prosthetic ankle.

in ki je povezan z umetnim gležnjem.

Even in the developed world,

Celo v razvitem svetu

it takes a period of three weeks to often years

traja od treh tednov dalje, včasih več let,

for a patient to get a comfortable socket, if ever.

da pacient dobi udobno ležišče, če sploh.

Prosthetists still use conventional processes

Protetiki še vedno uporabljajo klasične postopke,

like molding and casting

kot je oblikovanje kalupa in ulivanje,

to create single-material prosthetic sockets.

da izdelajo ležišče proteze iz enega materiala.

Such sockets often leave intolerable amounts

Taka ležišča pogosto pomenijo nevzdržen

of pressure on the limbs of the patient,

pritisk na pacientove ude,

leaving them with pressure sores and blisters.

kar povzroča razjede zaradi pritiska in žulje.

It does not matter

Ni pomembno,

how powerful your prosthetic ankle is.

kako močan je gleženj vaše proteze.

If your prosthetic socket is uncomfortable,

Če je njeno ležišče neudobno,

you will not use your leg,

noge ne boste uporabljali

and that is just simply unacceptable in our age.

in to je v današnjih časih enostavno nesprejemljivo.

So one day, when I met professor Hugh Herr

Tako sem nekega dne srečal profesorja Hugh-a Herr-a

about two and a half years ago,

pred približno dvema letoma in pol

and he asked me if I knew how to solve this problem,

in me je vprašal, ali vem, kako rešiti ta problem,

I said, "No, not yet,

sem mu odgovoril: "Ne, ne še,

but I would love to figure it out."

vendar bi rad to ugotovil."

And so, for my Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab,

In tako sem za svoj doktorat na MIT Media Labu

I designed custom prosthetic sockets

oblikoval ležišča za proteze po meri,

quickly and cheaply

primerna za hitro in poceni izdelavo,

that are more comfortable

ki so bolj udobna

than conventional prostheses.

od klasičnih protez.

I used magnetic resonance imaging

Uporabil sem slikanje z magnetno resonanco

to capture the actual shape of the patient's anatomy,

za zajem dejanske oblike pacientove anatomije,

then use finite element modeling to better predict

nakar sem uporabil metodo končnih elementov za boljšo napoved

the internal stresses and strains

tlakov in deformacij v notranjosti

on the normal forces,

pri običajnih silah.

and then create a prosthetic socket for manufacture.

In nato pripravil ležišče proteze za izdelavo.

We use a 3D printer to create

S 3D tiskalnikom izdelamo

a multi-material prosthetic socket

ležišče proteze iz večih materialov,

which relieves pressure where needed

kar razbremeni pritisk, kjer je to potrebno

on the anatomy of the patient.

glede na anatomijo pacienta.

In short, we're using data

Skratka, z uporabo podatkov

to make novel sockets quickly and cheaply.

lahko hitro in poceni naredimo nova ležišča.

In a recent trial we just wrapped up

V nedavni, pravkar končani raziskavi,

at the Media Lab,

v Media Labu

one of our patients, a U.S. veteran

je eden od našil pacientov, veteran ZDA,

who has been an amputee for about 20 years

ki je amputiranec približno 20 let

and worn dozens of legs,

in je nosil na ducate nog,

said of one of our printed parts,

komentiral enega od natisnjenih kosov:

"It's so soft, it's like walking on pillows,

"Tako je mehak, kot da bi hodil po blazinah;

and it's effing sexy."

in jebe*ti, kako je seksi."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Disability in our age

Invalidnost v našem času

should not prevent anyone

ne bi smela nikomur preprečiti

from living meaningful lives.

živeti polnega življenja.

My hope and desire is that the tools and processes

Upam in želim si, da bi orodja in postopki,

we develop in our research group

ki jih razvija naša raziskovalna skupina,

can be used to bring highly functional prostheses

služila temu, da bi te visoko funkcionalne proteze prišle v roke

to those who need them.

tistim, ki jih potrebujejo.

For me, a place to begin healing the souls

Sam lahko začnem celiti rane

of those affected by war and disease

prizadetim v vojni in zaradi bolezni

is by creating comfortable and affordable interfaces

z izdelavo udobnih in dostopnih vmesnikov

for their bodies.

za njihovo telo.

Whether it's in Sierra Leone or in Boston,

Bodisi v Sierri Leone bodisi v Bostonu,

I hope this not only restores

upam, da to ne le povrne funkcije,

but indeed transforms their sense of human potential.

temveč temeljito preoblikuje njihov občutek za človeški potencial.

Thank you very much.

Najlepša hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)