David Sengeh: The sore problem of prosthetic limbs

Translator: Sicong Ye Reviewer: Catherine Cai

I was born and raised in Sierra Leone,

我喺塞拉里昂出世長大

a small and very beautiful country

塞拉里昂係一個 位於西非嘅，細但美麗嘅國家

in West Africa,

a country rich both in physical resources

塞拉里昂擁有 豐富嘅天然資源同創新人才

and creative talent.

However, Sierra Leone is infamous

但係，塞拉里昂唔出名

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

原因係九十年代 打咗十年嘅反抗戰爭

when entire villages were burnt down.

全部村莊都被燒毀

An estimated 8,000 men, women and children

據統計大約八千名男人、女人同兒童

had their arms and legs amputated during this time.

喺戰爭期間失去手同腳

As my family and I ran for safety

我同家庭喺我十二歲嗰年

遇到嘅一次襲擊之後走難

when I was about 12 from one of those attacks,

I resolved that I would do everything I could

嗰陣我決定要盡一切辦法 令自己嘅小朋友

to ensure that my own children

would not go through the same experiences we had.

唔需要再經歷我哋曾經經歴過嘅苦痛

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

塞拉里昂嘅兒童 唔會再經歷呢啲慘痛嘅事

where war and amputation

were no longer a strategy for gaining power.

塞拉里昂再唔會

有人靠發動戰爭同殘害他人身體去奪權

As I watched people who I knew, loved ones,

當我望著我識得嘅、鍾意嘅人 戰後過返正常生活

recover from this devastation,

one thing that deeply troubled me

有一件事情深深咁困擾著我

was that many of the amputees in the country

塞拉里昂有好多傷殘嘅人唔用義肢

would not use their prostheses.

The reason, I would come to find out,

我後嚟發現佢哋唔用義肢嘅原因

was that their prosthetic sockets

係由於義肢嘅穿戴嘅地方

were painful because they did not fit well.

唔係好套到落隻腳到而造成痛楚

The prosthetic socket is the part

義肢嘅穿戴嘅地方係

in which the amputee inserts their residual limb,

殘疾人士嘅腳套入去義肢嘅地方

and which connects to the prosthetic ankle.

噉義肢另一端就係腳跟關節

Even in the developed world,

即使喺發達國家

it takes a period of three weeks to often years

病人都需要三星期至幾年嘅時間

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

至會達到一個舒適嘅義肢穿戴狀態

Prosthetists still use conventional processes

義肢矯形師仍然用梗傳統方法

like molding and casting

好似塑模同鑄造

to create single-material prosthetic sockets.

加上用單一物料，製成義肢穿戴嘅凹位

Such sockets often leave intolerable amounts

噉樣嘅凹位往往向病人隻腳 施加好大嘅壓力

of pressure on the limbs of the patient,

leaving them with pressure sores and blisters.

因為噉而生咗褥瘡同水泡

It does not matter

就算義肢腳跟關節好有力都係咁話

how powerful your prosthetic ankle is.

If your prosthetic socket is uncomfortable,

如果義肢穿戴嘅凹位唔舒服

you will not use your leg,

你會唔想行

and that is just simply unacceptable in our age.

凹位唔舒服喺宜家嚟講係唔可以接受嘅

So one day, when I met professor Hugh Herr

咁有一日，大概兩年半之前

about two and a half years ago,

我遇到 Hugh Herr 教授

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

佢問我係咪知道點樣解決呢個問題

I said, "No, not yet,

我話：冇，仲未呀

but I would love to figure it out."

但我好鍾意解決咗佢

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

喺我麻省理工學院 媒體實驗室嘅博士學位裏面

I designed custom prosthetic sockets

我設計咗個自選嘅義肢套

quickly and cheaply

又快又平

that are more comfortable

相對傳統義肢，新義肢更加舒服

than conventional prostheses.

I used magnetic resonance imaging

我利用磁力共振掌握病人腳部嘅構造

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

then use finite element modeling to better predict

然後通過有限單元模型更加精準咁預測

the internal stresses and strains

喺正向力嘅情況下內部嘅壓力同張力

on the normal forces,

and then create a prosthetic socket for manufacture.

然後鑄造一個義肢套嘅模，用嚟生產

We use a 3D printer to create

我哋利用一台 3D 打印機嚟整出

a multi-material prosthetic socket

一個由複合材料製成嘅義肢套

which relieves pressure where needed

佢能夠減輕傷殘人士身體嘅壓力

on the anatomy of the patient.

In short, we're using data

即係話，我哋通過收集人體工學嘅資料

to make novel sockets quickly and cheaply.

又平又快咁製造義肢套

In a recent trial we just wrapped up

最近一次喺媒體實驗室裡面 完成嘅試驗當中

at the Media Lab,

one of our patients, a U.S. veteran

我哋其中一位病人

佢係一個切肢已經廿年

who has been an amputee for about 20 years

and worn dozens of legs,

著過幾打義肢嘅美國退役軍人

said of one of our printed parts,

佢話我哋其中一件打印製成品

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

好柔軟，好似喺枕頭上面行路一樣

and it's effing sexy."

而且係抵死嘅性感

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Disability in our age

殘疾喺我哋今日嘅情況嚟講

should not prevent anyone

唔應該阻到任何人過有意義嘅生活

from living meaningful lives.

My hope and desire is that the tools and processes

我希望我哋喺研究小組裏面

開發嘅工具同發展嘅步驟

we develop in our research group

can be used to bring highly functional prostheses

可以向需要嘅人提供高性能嘅義肢

to those who need them.

For me, a place to begin healing the souls

對於我嚟講

要醫好因戰爭同疾病而受傷嘅靈魂

of those affected by war and disease

is by creating comfortable and affordable interfaces

首先就要係為佢哋

整一個舒適、可負擔嘅活動輔助工具

for their bodies.

Whether it's in Sierra Leone or in Boston,

無論係塞拉里昂或者波士頓

I hope this not only restores

我希望呢個研發唔單止恢復

but indeed transforms their sense of human potential.

仲可以改變佢哋嘅潛能

Thank you very much.

多謝

（掌聲）

(Applause)