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: 義肢嘅疼痛問題

Filmed:
826,892 views

係乜嘢驅使 David Sengeh 去發明一個更加舒適嘅義肢? 佢喺塞拉里昂長大,好多佢鍾意嘅人經歷殘酷內戰之後失去咗四肢。但 當佢注意到戴上義肢嘅人並唔係正確使用義肢嘅時候,佢同佢喺麻省理工學院媒體工作室嘅團隊一齊,去研究點解,同點樣解決呢個問題。
- 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出生 and raised提出 in Sierra塞拉 Leone塞拉利昂,
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我喺塞拉里昂出世長大
00:17
a small and very beautiful country國家
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塞拉里昂係一個
位於西非嘅,細但美麗嘅國家
00:19
in West西 Africa非洲,
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00:21
a country國家 rich豐富 both in physical物理 resources資源
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塞拉里昂擁有
豐富嘅天然資源同創新人才
00:23
and creative創造性 talent人才.
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00:26
However然而, Sierra塞拉 Leone塞拉利昂 is infamous臭名昭著
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但係,塞拉里昂唔出名
00:28
for a decade-long同你十年-長 rebel叛軍 war戰爭 in the '90s
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原因係九十年代
打咗十年嘅反抗戰爭
00:30
when entire整個 villages村莊 were burnt燒毀 down.
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全部村莊都被燒毀
據統計大約八千名男人、女人同兒童
00:33
An estimated估計 8,000 men男人, women婦女 and children孩子
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00:37
had their佢哋 arms武器 and legs amputated截肢 during this time.
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喺戰爭期間失去手同腳
00:42
As my family家庭 and I ran for safety安全
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我同家庭喺我十二歲嗰年
遇到嘅一次襲擊之後走難
00:45
when I was about 12 from one of those attacks攻擊,
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00:47
I resolved解決 that I would do everything I could
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嗰陣我決定要盡一切辦法
令自己嘅小朋友
00:51
to ensure確保 that my own自己 children孩子
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唔需要再經歷我哋曾經經歴過嘅苦痛
00:53
would not go through透過 the
same相同 experiences經驗 we had.
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00:57
They would, in fact事實, be part部分 of a Sierra塞拉 Leone塞拉利昂
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塞拉里昂嘅兒童
唔會再經歷呢啲慘痛嘅事
00:59
where war戰爭 and amputation截肢
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01:02
were no longer a strategy策略 for gaining獲得 power權力.
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塞拉里昂再唔會
有人靠發動戰爭同殘害他人身體去奪權
01:06
As I watched people who I knew, loved ones,
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當我望著我識得嘅、鍾意嘅人
戰後過返正常生活
01:10
recover恢復 from this devastation破壞,
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01:12
one thing that deeply深深 troubled困擾 me
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有一件事情深深咁困擾著我
01:15
was that many好多 of the amputees截肢 in the country國家
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塞拉里昂有好多傷殘嘅人唔用義肢
01:17
would not use their佢哋 prostheses修復.
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我後嚟發現佢哋唔用義肢嘅原因
01:19
The reason原因, I would come to find out,
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01:21
was that their佢哋 prosthetic人工 sockets
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係由於義肢嘅穿戴嘅地方
01:23
were painful痛苦 because they did not fit well.
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唔係好套到落隻腳到而造成痛楚
01:29
The prosthetic人工 socket is the part部分
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義肢嘅穿戴嘅地方係
01:31
in which the amputee截肢 inserts插入 their佢哋 residual殘餘 limb肢體,
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殘疾人士嘅腳套入去義肢嘅地方
01:35
and which connects連接 to the prosthetic人工 ankle腳踝.
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噉義肢另一端就係腳跟關節
01:37
Even in the developed開發 world世界,
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即使喺發達國家
01:39
it takes a period時期 of three weeks禮拜 to often經常 years
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病人都需要三星期至幾年嘅時間
01:42
for a patient病人 to get a comfortable自在 socket, if ever.
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至會達到一個舒適嘅義肢穿戴狀態
01:46
ProsthetistsProsthetists still use conventional傳統 processes過程
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義肢矯形師仍然用梗傳統方法
01:49
like molding成型 and casting鑄造
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好似塑模同鑄造
01:52
to create創建 single-material單材料 prosthetic人工 sockets.
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加上用單一物料,製成義肢穿戴嘅凹位
01:55
Such sockets often經常 leave離開 intolerable難以忍受 amounts大量
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噉樣嘅凹位往往向病人隻腳
施加好大嘅壓力
01:58
of pressure壓力 on the limbs四肢 of the patient病人,
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因為噉而生咗褥瘡同水泡
02:01
leaving離開 them with pressure壓力 sores and blisters水泡.
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02:05
It does not matter個問題
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就算義肢腳跟關節好有力都係咁話
02:07
how powerful強大 your prosthetic人工 ankle腳踝 is.
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02:10
If your prosthetic人工 socket is uncomfortable辛苦,
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如果義肢穿戴嘅凹位唔舒服
02:13
you will not use your leg,
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你會唔想行
02:15
and that is just simply淨係 unacceptable無法接受 in our age年齡.
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凹位唔舒服喺宜家嚟講係唔可以接受嘅
02:19
So one day, when I met遇到 professor教授 Hugh Herr先生
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咁有一日,大概兩年半之前
02:21
about two and a half一半 years ago,
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我遇到 Hugh Herr 教授
02:23
and he asked問吓 me if I knew
how to solve解決 this problem個問題,
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佢問我係咪知道點樣解決呢個問題
02:25
I said, "No, not yet尚未,
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我話:冇,仲未呀
02:27
but I would love to figure it out."
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但我好鍾意解決咗佢
02:30
And so, for my PhPh.D. at the MIT蔴省理工學院 Media媒體 Lab實驗室,
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喺我麻省理工學院
媒體實驗室嘅博士學位裏面
02:33
I designed設計 custom自定義 prosthetic人工 sockets
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我設計咗個自選嘅義肢套
02:36
quickly迅速 and cheaply
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又快又平
02:39
that are more comfortable自在
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相對傳統義肢,新義肢更加舒服
02:41
than conventional傳統 prostheses修復.
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我利用磁力共振掌握病人腳部嘅構造
02:44
I used magnetic resonance共振 imaging成像
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02:46
to capture捕獲 the actual實際 shape形狀 of the patient's病人嘅 anatomy解剖,
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然後通過有限單元模型更加精準咁預測
02:50
then use finite有限 element元素 modeling建模 to better predict預測
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02:53
the internal內部 stresses應力 and strains
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喺正向力嘅情況下內部嘅壓力同張力
02:55
on the normal正常 forces力量,
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02:57
and then create創建 a prosthetic人工 socket for manufacture製造.
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然後鑄造一個義肢套嘅模,用嚟生產
03:02
We use a 3D printer打印機 to create創建
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我哋利用一台 3D 打印機嚟整出
03:05
a multi-material多材質 prosthetic人工 socket
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一個由複合材料製成嘅義肢套
03:09
which relieves減輕 pressure壓力 where needed需要
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佢能夠減輕傷殘人士身體嘅壓力
03:11
on the anatomy解剖 of the patient病人.
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03:15
In short, we're using使用 data數據
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即係話,我哋通過收集人體工學嘅資料
03:18
to make novel小說 sockets quickly迅速 and cheaply.
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又平又快咁製造義肢套
最近一次喺媒體實驗室裡面
完成嘅試驗當中
03:21
In a recent最近 trial試驗 we just wrapped包裹 up
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03:23
at the Media媒體 Lab實驗室,
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03:25
one of our patients患者, a U.S. veteran老兵
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我哋其中一位病人
佢係一個切肢已經廿年
03:28
who has been an amputee截肢 for about 20 years
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03:30
and worn穿 dozens幾十 of legs,
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著過幾打義肢嘅美國退役軍人
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said of one of our printed印刷 parts部分,
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佢話我哋其中一件打印製成品
03:38
"It's so soft, it's like walking on pillows枕頭,
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好柔軟,好似喺枕頭上面行路一樣
03:41
and it's effing艾芬 sexy性感."
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而且係抵死嘅性感
(笑聲)
03:44
(Laughter笑聲)
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殘疾喺我哋今日嘅情況嚟講
03:48
Disability殘疾 in our age年齡
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03:51
should not prevent防止 anyone任何人
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唔應該阻到任何人過有意義嘅生活
03:53
from living生活 meaningful意義 lives生活.
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03:55
My hope希望 and desire欲望 is that the tools工具 and processes過程
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我希望我哋喺研究小組裏面
開發嘅工具同發展嘅步驟
03:59
we develop發展 in our research研究 group
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04:01
can be used to bring highly高度 functional功能 prostheses修復
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可以向需要嘅人提供高性能嘅義肢
04:04
to those who need them.
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04:06
For me, a place地方 to begin初時 healing癒合 the souls靈魂
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對於我嚟講
要醫好因戰爭同疾病而受傷嘅靈魂
04:11
of those affected影響 by war戰爭 and disease疾病
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首先就要係為佢哋
04:15
is by creating創建 comfortable自在 and affordable實惠 interfaces接口
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整一個舒適、可負擔嘅活動輔助工具
04:19
for their佢哋 bodies機構.
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04:21
Whether係唔係 it's in Sierra塞拉 Leone塞拉利昂 or in Boston波士頓,
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無論係塞拉里昂或者波士頓
04:24
I hope希望 this not only restores恢復
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我希望呢個研發唔單止恢復
04:28
but indeed講真 transforms變換 their佢哋
sense of human人類 potential.
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仲可以改變佢哋嘅潛能
多謝
04:31
Thank you very much.
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(掌聲)
04:34
(Applause掌聲)
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Translated by Sicong Ye
Reviewed by Yijing Cai

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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