By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: The Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Prosthetic and Orthotic Department become the first healthcare facility in the region yesterday to implant a patient with ‘Power Knee’ — the only motorised assistive device.
The centre is the first in the Middle East and North Africa region to implant the world’s first and only motor-powered artificially intelligent prosthesis for above-knee amputees.
Ghazi Sdiri, a 21-year-old Tunisian medical student in Romania, was the first patient to receive the power knee. He met with a motor accident in August last year during Ramadan and his legs had to be amputated. He was brought to Qatar in January on government expenses.
Sdiri expressed gratitude to the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and HMC for their support. He is looking forward to going back to his medical college and qualify as a doctor to serve the people in his country.
“He will wear the power knee forever, because it will give him so many benefits. It has sensors and the knee knows whatever activities it is doing like walking and sitting,” said Perry Boumans, Sales Manager for Ossur Prosthetics, the manufactures of ‘Power Knee’ in Iceland.
Across the world, there are only 150 users of power knee. Ossur Prosthetics supplies to the US Army, Hatley Court Military Facility in the UK and the Walterreed Hospital in the US.
Power knee has four sensors and two rechargeable batteries that can be used interchangeably, with each lasting 12 hours at a stretch.
“The power knee is the only motorised, assistive device for the patient, the others will be comfortable, normal and make the person walk normally. But this one will let the person walk. It’s more proactive, the other one is to stimulate the comfort. But with power knee, it’s basically to get somebody out of the chair; you want to get him walking,” said Dr Adams, Head of HMC’s Prosthetics and Orthotics.
The Peninsula
