Hi-tech orthopaedic care goes through crucial test

3D revolutionary for docs

LOME, June 23, (Agencies): In a consulting room in Togo’s capital, Lome, Geraldo Emmanuel — handicapped since birth six years ago — waits patiently on a bed while a digital scan is taken of his right leg.

Thanks to new 3D technology, he may be able to walk normally within a few months.

“The child walks on his toes so I’m scanning his leg so we can make him an orthotic using a 3D printer,” said Enyonam Ekpoh, from Togo’s national orthopaedic device and physiotherapy centre (CNAO).

A few hours later, Adjovi Koudahe, 46, has tests to receive a 3D brace for her right leg, which has been paralysed since a car accident in 2012.

“I’ve stopped doing anything because I’m in pain. I can’t walk properly anymore,” said the former trader, who limps heavily, aided by a crutch.

“Despite all the treatment I’ve had, my leg won’t respond and drags along the ground. But with the brace they want to make here, I’ve got high hopes.”

Three-dimensional printing is a fast-track way to make individually-tailored prosthetics and orthopaedic supports that compensate for a lack of a limb, deformity or paralysis.

The technology, initiated by a charity called Handicap International, allows the bespoke devices to be produced faster and reach a larger number of patients.

But if it is familiar to orthopaedic clinics in rich countries, it has yet to be introduced to poorer countries where needs are greater and the social safety net much smaller.

Only five to 15 percent of people in low income countries who need a prosthetic limb or orthopaedic brace get one, according to the non-profit organisation based in France.

Handicap International — recently renamed Humanity & Inclusion — is pushing ahead with research and clinical trials to see how the technology can be used in poor settings.

In 2016, it carried out clinical trials of three types of lower limb prosthetics in Madagascar, Syria and Togo, the results of which were highly encouraging.

A more ambitious project called “3D Impact” has been running in Togo, Mali and Niger since November last year, where 100 patients are getting made-to-measure 3D devices for free.

The project is

backed by 700,000 euros ($816,000) of funding from the Belgian Development Agency.

Fifty of the 100 patients will be in Togo, where many handicaps affecting mobility are linked to strokes or infectious diseases such as polio, said Impact 3D manager Simon Miriel.

3D printing is revolutionary for doctors working in conflict zones or even just hard-to-reach areas: the scanner is the size of about two mobile phones and very easy to transport.

One has been tested at a regional orthopaedic centre in Dapaong, some 620 kilometres (390 miles) by road north of the capital.

Normally, patients far from hospitals would have had to travel to have casts taken.

“As need be, scans can be sent directly by telephone to the specialist in charge of making the digital orthotic on a 3D printer.”

In all, four 3D scanners are being used in the three countries.

LONDON:

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Winning athletes love to bite their medals and smile for the cameras as they hold their trophies aloft, but their teeth may actually be holding them back.

Around half of Britain’s elite sports men and women have dental problems bad enough to affect their performance, according to a study published on Thursday.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) found high levels of gum disease and other oral health problems among athletes including rowers, rugby players and swimmers.

“Nutrition in sports is heavily reliant on frequent carbohydrate intakes, which are known to increase inflammation in the body and gum tissues,” said Ian Needleman, a professor at the centre for oral health and performance at UCL’s Eastman Dental Institute, who co-led the study.

“In sports where there is a lot of airflow, such as cycling and running, breathing hard can make the mouth dry so teeth lose the protective benefits of saliva”.

He added that the stress of racing and performing was also an important risk factor: “Some athletes (report) vomiting before every race as a result of pre competition anxiety.”

The study, the largest of its kind, looked at more than 350 sportsmen and women from nine GB Olympic teams, including swimming and rowing, as well as cycling’s Team Sky, England Rugby and Reading soccer club.