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The role of a prosthetist is not only to manufacture individual prostheses, but also to ensure their functionality, comfort, and aesthetics. Kateryna Prymachenko, a bioengineer and prosthetist from Kyiv, has joined the industry since the beginning of war and immediately identified a key task for herself: to do everything possible to help patients return to full life in society as quickly and painlessly as possible.
“My main task is to create a receiving sleeve and directly install the prosthesis. We also work in a team with rehabilitation therapists and help the patient go through the initial adaptation to using the prosthesis,” says Kateryna.
“Ever since high school, I wanted to work in an area where I could help people. At first, I thought about going into medicine, but since I really liked combining technology and medicine, I chose biomedical engineering.”
The war became an impetus for Kateryna.
“Rehabilitation takes a long time. If we are talking about the lower limbs, it takes time for a person to learn how to walk on the prosthesis. This is a really long process to return a person to a normal social life, and sometimes even to an active life, such as playing various sports. As for the upper limb prosthetics, it is also a significant period: from the installation of a mechanical prosthesis to the possibility of using a bionic one in the future,” shares Kateryna.
A huge period of time is also needed for a person to train his or her muscles and use the prosthesis to the best of his or her ability.
“Our task is to show a person what possibilities he or she has with this product. Everything is very individual in terms of time. It depends on the patient, on how much effort they put into rehabilitation.”
“The most important thing in my work is to bring patients back to normal not only physically but also emotionally, so that they feel free to socialize. Patients are often in a very depressed state. Our task is to bring them out of this state.”
It is important to increase the availability of modern prostheses for people with disabilities.
“For example, for patients who do not have certain limbs, or if a person is unable to see. My involvement in the rehabilitation of patients is an important task,” says Kateryna.
Lack of funding also hinders accessibility.
“There is a limit on the amount of money for prostheses, and it is not enough to install the highest quality prosthesis possible. We also have to think about how to keep within a certain amount of money and make it as good as possible.”
“Although, in general, changes are noticeable in the industry. Even recently, I know that the maximum cost was also raised. They made it possible to install myoelectric prostheses without primary prosthetics. A lot of new laws regarding prosthetics have been introduced recently, which improves and gives us more opportunities to install good prostheses. And, of course, this gives patients more opportunities to realize themselves in social life.”
Biomedical engineering promotes the introduction of innovative technologies in medicine, such as bionic prostheses and adaptive materials.
“We actively cooperate with development engineers. We give them feedback on the quality of their product and how it can be improved to make it even more convenient and easier for the patient.”
“The most important aspect of making prosthetics more accessible is public education. There must be a very high quality education. In my opinion, the problem is that nowadays education is mostly conducted remotely. And biomedical engineering is a field where you need not only to know the theory, but also to see the process visually and be able to work practically. Of course, if education is remote, it underestimates the level of knowledge, and work is still about practice,” says the bioengineer, prosthetist.
“The first challenge is the cost of materials and technologies. Thus, we need to optimize manufacturing processes to the best of our ability and look for alternative materials. And give the patient as much strength as possible for recovery.”
“Often people come to us in a depressed state, and we need to keep them motivated, so that they don't lose their motivation and do not give up, because the recovery process is difficult,” says Kateryna.
“We work closely with other specialists. First of all, these are engineers who directly design knee joints and hands. Also, there is a team of rehabilitation specialists. In my opinion, any prosthetic company needs a team of rehabilitation specialists.”
“The greatest pleasure is watching the first moment when a patient receives his or her prosthesis. For example, if it's a lower limb prosthesis, you can see how the patient takes the first steps, their emotions. And, of course, if the patient receives an upper limb prosthesis, these are his or her first movements and gestures. You can see how charged the person is, how grateful they are.”
Rehabilitation follows, and patients return to active life.
The war has affected the need for prosthetics and the workload for prosthetists has increased.
“We have to work faster, better, in terms of value for money. We need to learn a lot to create, use new materials and techniques to provide patients with the strongest possible prostheses to make them last longer,” says Kateryna.