From customised prostheses to compression masks for facial burns, Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is using 3D technology to make specialised rehabilitation more accessible in crisis settings.
From customised prostheses to compression masks for facial burns, Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is using 3D technology to make specialised rehabilitation more accessible in crisis settings.
For people injured in conflict or other disasters, surviving the initial injury is just the beginning of their recovery journey.
An amputation can affect someone’s ability to work, care for themselves or carry out everyday activities.
Severe burns can result in thickened skin, restricted movement and changes to the function of the area affected.
Without rehabilitation, these complications can have lasting physical, psychological and social consequences.
Unfortunately, specialised rehabilitation and services such as prosthetics (the creation of artificial limbs) are often non-existent in countries affected by conflict or where access to healthcare is limited.
In 2017, MSF decided it was time to start addressing some of these gaps.
The MSF Foundation 3D programme began in Jordan in 2017, initially focusing on custom upper-limb prostheses for patients treated at MSF’s reconstructive surgery hospital in Amman.
The programme has since expanded to include facial and neck compression masks for people with severe burns.
Today, 3D technologies, including surface scanning, digital modelling, 3D printing and tele-rehabilitation are being used in our projects in Jordan, Haiti, Palestine and Syria.
Since the programme began, nearly 500 patients have benefited from 3D-printed prostheses and compression devices. Here, are some of them.
Noor, 7, from Fallujah, Iraq, was badly burnt in an explosion. When she arrived at the MSF Hospital in Amman, a mask was specially designed to compress her scars and help them soften.
Samar Ismail, supervisor of the MSF 3D project in Amman, modifies an upper-limb prosthetic with a drill.
Marie Harolde, 27, had a compression mask 3D printed for her face after being severely burnt. The device formed part of her rehabilitation journey at the MSF Tabarre hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In Gaza City, physiotherapists used specialised software to scan 4-year-old Mohammed Nasman’s face to create a custom-made compression mask.
After a traumatic injury, Aisha, 14, travelled from Yemen to receive a prosthetic hand from the MSF hospital in Amman.
For 55 years, MSF has been going where we’re needed most to provide care for people affected by emergencies, epidemics, disasters and exclusion from healthcare.
South Sudan, Ukraine, Palestine, South Africa, Malawi, Haiti, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Yemen are just a few of the 70-plus countries we’re present in.
Right now, massive budget cuts to global aid funding are leaving deadly gaps in access to medical care for millions of people. We can help fill some of these, but we can’t do it alone.
With your support, we go there.
Find out more about our work: msf.org.za
