A new ‘bionic’ leg gets Khairull Hafiz Ismail back on two feet again, writes Izwan Ismail
ELEVEN years ago, motorcyclist Khairull Hafiz Ismail was hit by a lorry and lost his left leg, from the knee down.
The 36-year-old engineer at Tabung Haji Plantation says although it was hard to accept what happened, he didn’t give up. For him, life must go on.
“It was difficult but I had to move on and continue with my life and family,” says the father of one.
With a prosthetic leg, he was able to continue working and performing light activities.
But he still wants to indulge in his favourite pastimes, riding superbikes, climbing walls and cliffs and riding mountain bikes. However, the prosthetic leg did not allow him to do all these strenuous physical activities.
“I want to prove that a disabled person can also lead a happy and exciting life,” he says.
ON WITH LIFE
Last year, after four prosthetic legs, Khairull got in touch with Ossur, an Icelandic company which is one of the biggest providers of prosthetic solutions in the world.
With his newest prosthetic leg, Khairull can now enjoy his daily life, work and leisure with more comfort and confidence. “I can now move around like a normal person and do some sports such as running and jumping, and action sports too. In fact, it feels natural, like having a normal leg,” he says.
Khairull is the first Malaysian with a prosthetic leg to ride a superbike around the Sepang International Circuit, join a mountain bike competition, do rock climbing and more.
As part of his give-back-to-the-society programme, Khairull gives motivational talks in hospitals and schools.
He says: “Many people still believe that the disabled should just stay at home. This will only make them feel left out and demotivated.
“What they really should do is go out and lead a normal life.”
ADVANCED PROSTHETICS
Companies like Ossur have been working to produce the most advanced prosthetics for the disabled. Its Asia Pacific president, Arni Alvar Arason, says prosthetic technology has advanced over the years.
“Now with solutions like the Rheo Knee 3, users are assisted by artificial intelligence that automatically adapts to their and the environment in which they walk,” he says.
The microprocessor in the prosthetic help adjust the knee resistance on a split-second basis to provide an appropriate balance between stability and dynamics. The new technology also uses mobile apps to help adjust the movements of individual users.
The Rheo Knee 3 now includes a Bluetooth Low Energy chipset that allows simple and robust wireless connection to Apple iOS devices.
Basically, it allows the end-user to access important knee parameters such as battery status and step count. The expert mode allows intuitive set-up of the knee, with both automatic and manual parameter adjustment, sensor calibration and information on battery status, step count, firmware, etc.
SPORTING DESIGN
Advanced prosthetics were also used with much success at Paralympics events. Flex-Foot Cheetah blades by Ossur were worn by Jonnie Peacock and Oscar Pistorius at the London 2012 Paralympics.
Ossur also had a particularly strong showing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in below-knee amputee sprinting, with all medalists in the men’s 100m, 200m and 400m races wearing the company’s iconic Cheetah running blades.
Arason says Ossur has been applying engineering systems, especially electronics, to the study of biological principles. “The goal is to restore the anatomical functions displaced by amputation using intelligent structures in products that can respond in a human-like way,” he says.
Besides that, carbon fibre composites used in the aerospace industry are employed in prosthetics for their superior strength, flexibility and lightness.
MOVING FORWARD
Ossur is now working on a new frontier of prosthetics, experimenting on mind-control prosthetics.
“With this innovation, users would be able to control their prosthetic leg with their mind via sensors connected to the nerves,” he says.
Locally, Ossur is working with universities such as Universiti Malaya to conduct studies and trials on technologies and products with local patients and clinicians.
“The access to local patients with their special needs as well as problems associated with tropical weather such as heat and humidity enable Ossur to use Malaysia as the launch pad to evaluate and test product ideas for the region,” he says.