A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday returned to Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital to thank doctors for helping him walk again after he lost his left leg below the knee in an industrial accident last year.
The 37-year-old migrant worker, nicknamed A-sui (阿雖), moved to Taiwan to work seven years ago.
Last year, he fractured his left knee and calf as a result of a gas explosion at a factory.
At the time, he said he thought he would never walk again.
The medical team found that soft tissue and bone in his knee joint were destroyed by the explosion and he sustained burns to several areas of his body, Department of Surgery director Kuo Yao-jen (郭耀仁) said.
However, his left ankle was not injured, Kuo said.
The doctors performed a rotationplasty, in which the ankle joint was rotated and attached to the fermur to replace the knee joint that had been shattered, he said.
A-sui overcame the psychological effects of his procedure and could bend his knee easily with the help of a prosthetic leg, Kuo said.
However, he still had difficulty with stairs and attaching or removing the prosthetic.
Thanks to technological advances, the hospital’s Department of Physical Therapy worked with an assistive-device manufacturer to produce a 3D-printed, below-the-knee prosthetic for A-sui, Kuo said.
The new prosthetic is made of a light material and fits comfortably, allowing A-sui to move his joints more easily and walk with better balance, he said.
The hospital covered the medical fees, including about NT$300,000 for the 3D-printed prosthetic.
With the help of 3D scanners and computer-aided design software, 3D printing technology can produce prosthetic limbs that attach more precisely, so that when a person is walking with a prosthetic leg, there is good symmetry, Department of Physical Therapy director Chen Chia-hsin (陳嘉炘) said.
Such technology can also make prosthetics artistic and personalized, Chen said.
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