ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Sengeh - Biomechatronics engineer
Even the most advanced prosthetic isn't useful if it's hard to wear. This observation guides TED Fellow David Sengeh's work at the Biomechatronics group in the MIT Media Lab.

Why you should listen

David Sengeh was born and raised in Sierra Leone, where more than 8,000 men, women and children had limbs amputated during a brutal civil war. He noticed that many people there opted not to wear a prosthesis because proper fit is such an issue.

Sengeh has pioneered a new system for creating prosthetic sockets, which fit a prothesis onto a patient's residual limb. Using MRI to map the shape, computer-assisted design to predict internal strains and 3D printing to allow for different materials to be used in different places, Sengeh is creating sockets that are far more comfortable than traditional models. These sockets can be produced cheaply and quickly, making them far more likely to help amputees across the globe. 

Sengeh was named one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in Technology in 2014, and in April 2014, Sengeh won the $15,000 "Cure it!" Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize.

More profile about the speaker
David Sengeh | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

David Sengeh: The sore problem of prosthetic limbs

David Sengeh: O doloroso problema dos membros protéticos

Filmed:
826,892 views

O que levou David Sengeh a criar um membro protético mais confortável? Ele cresceu em Serra Leoa, e muitas das pessoas que ele ama perderam membros depois da guerra civil brutal que houve lá. Quando notou que as pessoas que tinham próteses não as estavam usando, ele se empenhou em descobrir o motivo para resolver o problema com sua equipe do MIT Media Lab.
- Biomechatronics engineer
Even the most advanced prosthetic isn't useful if it's hard to wear. This observation guides TED Fellow David Sengeh's work at the Biomechatronics group in the MIT Media Lab. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I was born and raised in Sierra Leone,
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Eu nasci e cresci em Serra Leoa,
00:17
a small and very beautiful country
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um país pequeno e muito bonito
00:19
in West Africa,
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na África Ocidental,
00:21
a country rich both in physical resources
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um país rico em recursos físicos
e talento criativo.
00:23
and creative talent.
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00:26
However, Sierra Leone is infamous
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Entretano,
Serra Leoa tem má fama
00:28
for a decade-long rebel war in the '90s
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devido a uma década
de guerra nos anos 90,
00:30
when entire villages were burnt down.
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quando vilas inteiras
foram incendiadas.
00:33
An estimated 8,000 men, women and children
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Estima-se que 8.000
homens, mulheres e crianças
00:37
had their arms and legs amputated during this time.
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tiveram seus braços e pernas
amputados nessa época.
00:42
As my family and I ran for safety
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Enquanto minha família e eu
fugíamos, por segurança,
00:45
when I was about 12 from one of those attacks,
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de um desses ataques,
quando eu tinha 12 anos,
00:47
I resolved that I would do everything I could
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eu resolvi que eu
faria tudo o que pudesse
00:51
to ensure that my own children
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para garantir que meus filhos
00:53
would not go through the
same experiences we had.
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não passassem
pelo mesmo que passamos.
00:57
They would, in fact, be part of a Sierra Leone
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Eles seriam, de fato,
parte da Serra Leoa
00:59
where war and amputation
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onde guerra e mutilações
01:02
were no longer a strategy for gaining power.
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não seriam mais uma
estratégia para ganhar poder.
01:06
As I watched people who I knew, loved ones,
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Observando pessoas
que eu conhecia, pessoas amadas,
01:10
recover from this devastation,
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recuperando-se dessa devastação,
01:12
one thing that deeply troubled me
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uma coisa que me
incomodava profundamente
01:15
was that many of the amputees in the country
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era que muitos dos mutilados no país
01:17
would not use their prostheses.
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não estavam usando suas próteses.
01:19
The reason, I would come to find out,
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A razão, eu descobriria,
01:21
was that their prosthetic sockets
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era que os encaixes protéticos
01:23
were painful because they did not fit well.
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machucavam, porque eles
não encaixavam direito.
01:29
The prosthetic socket is the part
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O encaixe protético é a parte
01:31
in which the amputee inserts their residual limb,
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em que os mutilados encaixam
seu membro residual,
01:35
and which connects to the prosthetic ankle.
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o qual se conecta
ao tornozelo protético.
01:37
Even in the developed world,
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Mesmo no mundo desenvolvido,
01:39
it takes a period of three weeks to often years
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demora de três semanas
a, muitas vezes, anos
01:42
for a patient to get a comfortable socket, if ever.
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para um paciente conseguir
um encaixe confortável, se conseguir.
01:46
Prosthetists still use conventional processes
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Protéticos ainda usam
processos convencionais
01:49
like molding and casting
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como moldagem e fundição
01:52
to create single-material prosthetic sockets.
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para criar encaixes protéticos
de um único material.
01:55
Such sockets often leave intolerable amounts
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Tais encaixes muitas vezes
geram uma pressão
01:58
of pressure on the limbs of the patient,
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intolerável nos membros do paciente,
02:01
leaving them with pressure sores and blisters.
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deixando-os com
dores e bolhas, devido à pressão
02:05
It does not matter
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Não importa
02:07
how powerful your prosthetic ankle is.
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qual a potência
de seu tornozelo protético.
02:10
If your prosthetic socket is uncomfortable,
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Se o encaixe protético
for desconfortável,
02:13
you will not use your leg,
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você não usará sua perna,
e isso é simplesmente
inaceitável hoje em dia.
02:15
and that is just simply unacceptable in our age.
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02:19
So one day, when I met professor Hugh Herr
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Então, quando conheci
o professor Hugh Herr,
cerca de dois anos e meio atrás,
02:21
about two and a half years ago,
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02:23
and he asked me if I knew
how to solve this problem,
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e ele me perguntou se eu sabia
resolver esse problema,
02:25
I said, "No, not yet,
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eu disse: "Não, ainda não,
02:27
but I would love to figure it out."
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mas eu adoraria saber."
02:30
And so, for my Ph.D. at the MIT Media Lab,
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E assim, para o meu Ph.D.
no MIT Media Lab,
02:33
I designed custom prosthetic sockets
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eu projetei encaixes
protéticos personalizados,
02:36
quickly and cheaply
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de maneira rápida e barata,
02:39
that are more comfortable
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que são mais confortáveis
02:41
than conventional prostheses.
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do que próteses convencionais.
02:44
I used magnetic resonance imaging
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Eu usei imagens
de ressonância magnética
02:46
to capture the actual shape of the patient's anatomy,
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para captar a forma real
da anatomia do paciente,
02:50
then use finite element modeling to better predict
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e usei modelagem
de elementos finitos para melhor prever
02:53
the internal stresses and strains
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as pressões e tensões internas
02:55
on the normal forces,
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nas forças normais,
02:57
and then create a prosthetic socket for manufacture.
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e assim criar um encaixe
protético para fabricação.
03:02
We use a 3D printer to create
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Nós usamos
uma impressora 3D para criar
03:05
a multi-material prosthetic socket
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um encaixe protético
com vários materiais,
03:09
which relieves pressure where needed
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que alivia a pressão
onde necessário
03:11
on the anatomy of the patient.
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na anatomia do paciente.
03:15
In short, we're using data
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Resumidamente,
estamos usando dados
03:18
to make novel sockets quickly and cheaply.
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para criar novos encaixes
de maneira rápida e barata.
Num experimento
recente que fizemos
03:21
In a recent trial we just wrapped up
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03:23
at the Media Lab,
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no Media Lab,
03:25
one of our patients, a U.S. veteran
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um de nossos pacientes,
um veterano de guerra
03:28
who has been an amputee for about 20 years
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que foi amputado há 20 anos
03:30
and worn dozens of legs,
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e já tinha usado dezenas de pernas,
03:34
said of one of our printed parts,
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falou a respeito de uma
de nossas peças impressas:
03:38
"It's so soft, it's like walking on pillows,
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"É tão suave, é como caminhar
sobre travesseiros,
03:41
and it's effing sexy."
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e é muito 'sexy'."
03:44
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
03:48
Disability in our age
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Deficiência hoje em dia
03:51
should not prevent anyone
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não deveria impedir que ninguém
03:53
from living meaningful lives.
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vivesse uma vida significativa.
03:55
My hope and desire is that the tools and processes
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Minha esperança e meu desejo
são que as ferramentas e processos
que desenvolvemos
em nosso grupo de pesquisa
03:59
we develop in our research group
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04:01
can be used to bring highly functional prostheses
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possam ser usados para levar
próteses altamente funcionais
04:04
to those who need them.
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para os que precisam.
04:06
For me, a place to begin healing the souls
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Para mim, um lugar
para começar a curar as almas
04:11
of those affected by war and disease
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daqueles afetados
pela guerra e pelas doenças
04:15
is by creating comfortable and affordable interfaces
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é criando interfaces
confortáveis e acessíveis
04:19
for their bodies.
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para seus corpos.
04:21
Whether it's in Sierra Leone or in Boston,
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Seja em Serra Leoa ou em Boston,
04:24
I hope this not only restores
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Espero que isso não só restabeleça,
04:28
but indeed transforms their
sense of human potential.
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mas de fato transforme
o senso de potencial humano deles.
04:31
Thank you very much.
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Muito obrigado.
(Aplausos)
04:34
(Applause)
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Translated by Gustavo Rocha
Reviewed by Alessandra Areias

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Sengeh - Biomechatronics engineer
Even the most advanced prosthetic isn't useful if it's hard to wear. This observation guides TED Fellow David Sengeh's work at the Biomechatronics group in the MIT Media Lab.

Why you should listen

David Sengeh was born and raised in Sierra Leone, where more than 8,000 men, women and children had limbs amputated during a brutal civil war. He noticed that many people there opted not to wear a prosthesis because proper fit is such an issue.

Sengeh has pioneered a new system for creating prosthetic sockets, which fit a prothesis onto a patient's residual limb. Using MRI to map the shape, computer-assisted design to predict internal strains and 3D printing to allow for different materials to be used in different places, Sengeh is creating sockets that are far more comfortable than traditional models. These sockets can be produced cheaply and quickly, making them far more likely to help amputees across the globe. 

Sengeh was named one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in Technology in 2014, and in April 2014, Sengeh won the $15,000 "Cure it!" Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize.

More profile about the speaker
David Sengeh | Speaker | TED.com