Sheikh Hamad Hospital renews hope for Palestinian amputees

QNAGazaMohammed Suleiman Abu Madi, a resident of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, is happy at how a smart electronic prosthesis has brought him back to life, given him hope, and helped him control the grip of even the smallest objects, return to his normal life, and integrate with people without shame, after he had been covering his amputated arm for many years.The Qatar Fund for Development-funded Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Hospital in Gaza has given people in the Gaza Strip hope after their limbs were amputated during Israeli wars and aggressions. After the prosthetics department manufactured smart electronic limbs and supplied them within the framework of the first phase of twenty-one amputees in the Gaza Strip, 40 other smart prostheses will be installed for urgent cases and productive groups within Palestinian society during the second phase, which is expected next September.According to the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Palestinian citizen Mohammed Suleiman Abu Madi was finally able to use his right hand after suffering from a motor disability due to the amputation of his hand for many years. Abu Madi, who lost his hand when he was five, adds that the loss of his hand had a negative impact on his psyche and made him feel as if something was missing, especially when he was a child, as he used to cover his hand with a sock so that the amputated part was not visible to those around him."But today, after I installed a smart prosthesis, I feel happy, my life has returned to normal, and here I am drinking with my hand, going to the market and carrying shopping items with my hand, even a small rose I can hold in my hand,”he added.According to Dr. Ahmed Al-Absi, head of the Prosthetics department at HH Sheikh Hamad Hospital, Abu Madi and twenty other Palestinian amputees were able to install an electronic prosthetic hand that they can use and move through the brain control that sends motor signals to each of the muscles and nerves connected to that prosthesis, and what distinguishes smart limbs is being functional and cosmetic at the same time.Dr. Al-Absi said that the prostheses rely on the sensitive electrodes inside the electronic hand, where it takes the signal from the brain and converts it into movement, so the patient can open and close his hand, in addition to handling all the tools he wants.Al-Absi stated that the Prosthetics Department is working to provide an integrated treatment circle for people who require prostheses, which is divided into three stages, including psychological and physical rehabilitation, production and installation of the limb, and finally training the patient to use it, confirming that all of these teams dealt with cases where an electronic limb was installed and worked to help all patients accept the idea of an el."At the beginning, there was a difficulty in accepting the smart prosthesis and fears of how to deal with it, but today we can say that we have 21 success stories,” he said.Dr. Nooreddin Salah, Director General of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in the Gaza Strip, stated that the hospital’s Prosthetics Department is equipped with the latest technologies and devices and has obtained the best limbs from the largest international companies, including the German firm Otto Bock. He emphasised that the German company provides the best prosthetic materials, while the limb is entirely made by skilled local hands in a workshop affiliated with HH Sheikh Hamad Hospital in Gaza.He added that the installation of prostheses needs multiple stages, especially for children who are going through different phases. "In the previous stages, we used to install cosmetic prostheses, as well as prostheses for athletes with a movable joint. However, the important precedent and the first event at the level of the Middle East region was the installation of smart electronic upper prostheses for Palestinian youth and boys, which sets a precedent because the upper limbs have much higher functional tasks than the lower limbs, such as drinking water, holding pens and papers, and for the doctor, holding surgical instruments,” he said.The Director General of HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in Gaza Strip explained that smart limbs are being installed to restore the functions of upper limbs because the installation of the limb means restoring the patient to his usual lifestyle and integrating him into routine life as he was in the previous state before he was subjected to amputation.He reiterated that the first phase included the installation of 21 smart upper limbs for both young and children. About 40 other prostheses will be presented in the second phase, expected in September.As for the mechanism of limb manufacturing, Dr. Nooreddin Salah pointed out that both types of prostheses, whether cosmetic or smart electronic, are manufactured in a workshop affiliated to Hamad Hospital by skilled local hands trained from international experiences in previous stages. He affirmed that the priority in the installation of prostheses is usually for productive groups within the Palestinian society, such as teachers, doctors, boys and girls, because these categories constitute productive and sensitive segments within the Palestinian society. "We are interested in restoring these important parts of society to their normal lifestyles and integrating them into the Palestinian society,” he said.Dr ooreddin thanked the Qatar Fund for Development, the main financier of the hospital, confirming at the same time that the high financial costs of the upper and lower limbs pose a dilemma and a great challenge, and said that the cost of a conventional cosmetic prosthesis may reach seven thousand dollars, while the cost of a smart electronic prosthesis reaches more than sixteen thousand dollars.Omar Shawa, prosthetics and devices specialist at HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in the Gaza Strip, spoke about the stages of preparing the prosthesis, and said that the patient is first shown to an orthopedist for examination and obtaining preliminary approval to start preparing and installing the limb.