How can an ankle become a knee? Now the progress of medical technology can be said to be incredible. Zhonghe Memorial Hospital affiliated to Kaohsiung Medical University recently successfully helped 1 Vietnamese migrant workers. Because of an accident at work, his left knee was comminuted and his calf was fractured, so the medical team transplanted his ankle at 1.80 degrees, and the leg stump was used as the thigh bone. Moreover, an artificial limb was made with advanced 3D printing technology, which gave the patient a brand-new "knee" appearance!

Dean Hou Mingfeng (from left) shows a 3D printed prosthesis to Ahe (middle), a Vietnamese migrant worker. On the right is Chen Jiayu, Director of Rehabilitation Department. (Photo courtesy of Zhonghe Memorial Hospital affiliated to Kaohsiung Medical University) This 1 37-year-old Vietnamese migrant worker, nicknamed "Archie", suffered an explosion accident at work last year, resulting in a comminuted fracture of his left knee and a fracture of his calf. After this major occupational disaster, they suffered physically and mentally, thinking that they could never walk again. Guo, director of surgery at Gao Medical University, said that Gao Medical University not only used the most advanced transplant technology for treatment, but also fully paid for medical expenses, including 3D printed prostheses worth more than 300,000 yuan, so that he could stand up again and take every step.

After receiving the patient, the hospital immediately started a minimally invasive team composed of orthopedic attending physician Lu Junkuan and plastic surgeon to rescue him. After evaluation, the patient's soft tissue and bones around the knee joint were blown to pieces, and the whole body was burned and scalded. Fortunately, the ankle was not injured, so the cutting-edge transplantation team used "rotational orthopedic surgery" to rotate the ankle joint of the patient's residual limb by 180 degrees and transplant it to the femur to replace the originally cracked knee joint.

3D printing advanced technology, at the same time, it can realize the artistic and personalized needs of prosthetic limbs. "(Photo courtesy of Zhonghe Memorial Hospital affiliated to Kaohsiung Medical University) Not only that, the rehabilitation department cooperated with the assistive devices company to make a brand-new below-knee prosthesis by using 3D printing technology. The material is light and comfortable, so that A can be worn on new knees, and the joint movement is more comfortable, the body symmetry is better, and walking is no longer wobbly.

Chen, director of the Department of Rehabilitation, said that the advanced technology of 3D printing can also realize the artistic and personalized needs of artificial limbs. "By scanning the limbs with a 3D scanner and computer-aided design software, the prosthetic sleeve can be printed, which can be connected with other parts of the prosthesis more accurately without using traditional plaster molds, and provide the symmetry and good biomechanical properties of the foot when the prosthesis is worn and walked.