I was born and raised in Sierra Leone, a small and very beautiful country in West Africa, a country rich both in physical resources and creative talent.
Rođen sam i odrastao u Sijera Leoneu, maloj i veoma lepoj zemlji u zapadnoj Africi, zemlji bogatoj kako prirodnim resursima tako i kreativnim talentima.
However, Sierra Leone is infamous for a decade-long rebel war in the '90s when entire villages were burnt down. An estimated 8,000 men, women and children had their arms and legs amputated during this time. As my family and I ran for safety when I was about 12 from one of those attacks, I resolved that I would do everything I could to ensure that my own children would not go through the same experiences we had. They would, in fact, be part of a Sierra Leone where war and amputation were no longer a strategy for gaining power.
Ipak, Sijera Leone je ozloglašen zbog decenijskog pubunjeničkog rata '90-ih kada su cela sela spaljena. Približno kod 8000 muškaraca, žena i dece je izvršena amputacija ruku i nogu tokom ovog perioda. Dok smo moja porodica i ja bežali ka bezbednosti, kada sam imao 12 godina, od jednog od tih napada, odlučio sam da ću učiniti sve što je u mojoj moći da osiguram da moja deca ne prođu kroz isto iskustvo koje smo mi imali. Oni će biti, u stvari, deo Sijera Leonea kada rat i amputacije ne budu više strategija za dobijanje moći.
As I watched people who I knew, loved ones, recover from this devastation, one thing that deeply troubled me was that many of the amputees in the country would not use their prostheses. The reason, I would come to find out, was that their prosthetic sockets were painful because they did not fit well. The prosthetic socket is the part in which the amputee inserts their residual limb, and which connects to the prosthetic ankle. Even in the developed world, it takes a period of three weeks to often years for a patient to get a comfortable socket, if ever. Prosthetists still use conventional processes like molding and casting to create single-material prosthetic sockets. Such sockets often leave intolerable amounts of pressure on the limbs of the patient, leaving them with pressure sores and blisters. It does not matter how powerful your prosthetic ankle is. If your prosthetic socket is uncomfortable, you will not use your leg, and that is just simply unacceptable in our age.
Dok sam gledao osobe koje poznajem, voljene, kako se oporavljaju od razaranja, jedna stvar koja me je duboko mučila je to što većina osoba sa amputacijom u zemlji ne želi da nosi proteze. Razlog, koji sam kasnije saznao, je taj što je njihovo ležište proteze bilo bolno jer se nije dobro uklapala. Ležište proteze je deo u koji osoba s amputiranim udom uvlači patrljak, i koji se povezuje sa zglobom proteze. Čak i u razvijenom svetu, potreban je period od tri nedelje do čak par godina da pacijent dobije udobno ležište, ako ga ikad i dobije. Prostetičari i dalje koriste konvencionalne metode kao što je kalupljenje i livenje kako bi napravili ležišta za proteze od jednog materijala. Takva ležišta često vrše nepodnošljivu količinu pritiska na udove pacijenta, ostavljajući ih sa ranama i plikovima usled pritiska. Uopšte nije važno koliko je jak vaš zglob proteze. Ako je ležište vaše proteze neudobno, vi nećete koristiti vašu nogu, i to je jednostavno neprihvatljivo u našem dobu.
So one day, when I met professor Hugh Herr about two and a half years ago, and he asked me if I knew how to solve this problem, I said, "No, not yet, but I would love to figure it out." And so, for my Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab, I designed custom prosthetic sockets quickly and cheaply that are more comfortable than conventional prostheses. I used magnetic resonance imaging to capture the actual shape of the patient's anatomy, then use finite element modeling to better predict the internal stresses and strains on the normal forces, and then create a prosthetic socket for manufacture. We use a 3D printer to create a multi-material prosthetic socket which relieves pressure where needed on the anatomy of the patient. In short, we're using data to make novel sockets quickly and cheaply. In a recent trial we just wrapped up at the Media Lab, one of our patients, a U.S. veteran who has been an amputee for about 20 years and worn dozens of legs, said of one of our printed parts, "It's so soft, it's like walking on pillows, and it's effing sexy." (Laughter)
I tako jednog dana, kada sam sreo profesora Hju Hera pre dve ipo godine, on me je upitao da li znam kako da rešim ovaj problem, ja sam rekao: „Ne, ne još uvek, ali bih voleo to da rešim.“ I tako sam za svoj doktorat na MIT Media laboratoriji, dizajnirao prilagođena ležišta proteze brzo i jeftino - a ona su mnogo udobnija nego uobičajene proteze. Koristio sam magnetnu rezonancu kako bih snimio stvarni oblik anatomije pacijenta, onda je korišćeno modelovanje konačnih elemenata kako bi bolje predvideli unutrašnje napone i naprezanja pri normalnim silama, i onda je napravljeno ležište proteze za proizvođača. Koristili smo 3D štampač da napravimo više-materijalno ležište proteze koje ublažava pritisak tamo gde je to potrebno na anatomiji pacijenta. Ukratko, koristimo podatke da napravimo nova ležišta brzo i jeftino. U skorašnjem ispitivanju koje smo upravo završili u Media Lab-u, jedan od naših pacijenata, američki veteran koji već 20 godina živi bez amputiranog uda i koji je nosio desetine nogu, rekao je za jedan od naših odštampanih delova: „Tako je mek, osećaj je kao da hodaš po jastucima, a i vrlo je seksi.“ (Smeh)
Disability in our age should not prevent anyone from living meaningful lives. My hope and desire is that the tools and processes we develop in our research group can be used to bring highly functional prostheses to those who need them. For me, a place to begin healing the souls of those affected by war and disease is by creating comfortable and affordable interfaces for their bodies. Whether it's in Sierra Leone or in Boston, I hope this not only restores but indeed transforms their sense of human potential.
Invaliditet u našem dobu ne bi trebalo nikog da spreči da živi smislen život. Moja nada i želja je da alati i procesi koje razvijamo u našoj razvojnoj grupi mogu biti upotrebljeni kako bi visoko funkcionalne proteze došle do onih kojima su neophodne. Za mene, mesto za početak lečenja duša onih koji su zahvaćeni ratom i bolešću, je pravljenje udobnih i pristupačnih interfejsa za njihova tela. Bilo to u Sijera Leoneu ili u Bostonu, nadam se da ovo ne samo da obnavlja već zaista transformiše njihov osećaj za ljudski potencijal.
Thank you very much.
Hvala vam mnogo.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)