Prosthetic care and rehabilitation of the wounded in the conditions of the modern war of independence of Ukraine: coverage of the experience of the first decade (2014-2024) in terms of history of science and technology

The article deals with overview, assessment, and generalization of medical innovations in the area of prosthetic care and rehabilitation of the wounded that were established during the first decade (2014-2024) of the modern War of Independence of Ukraine. Complexity of humanitarian, social, economic and scientific significance of activity in the aforementioned area is disclosed. Growing number of battle injuries of limbs that lead to amputations with further disablement during the Russian aggression is emphasized. The scale of the problem establishes the primary objective of limb prosthetics using innovative methods before the Ukrainian society. Ukrainian health worker, scientists of various knowledge branches, military people, inventors, volunteers and enterprises actively participate in creation of state-of-the-art research and development products from various sides. Ukrainian bionic prosthetics are an interesting and absolutely necessary innovation. They are manufactured using 3D scanning, on the basis of which individual attachments and then prostheses themselves are created. The whole manufacturing process (from measurement to installation) takes place in Ukraine. Since 2023, such prostheses have been provided to Ukrainian warriors and civilians wounded during the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine for free. The Ukrainian bionic arm prosthesis has been included in the 2022 Best Inventions rating of TIME (the American magazine). The up-to-date prosthetic care methodic, namely osteointegration, is used for bionic prostheses more and more often. The second innovative group of prostheses is myoelectric ones. They are made of acrylic resin, which has good ductile properties, individually according to users’ parameters. Free ocular prosthetics is provided to the warriors in Kharkiv Regional Hospital. And the surgeons of the military hospital in Kharkiv were the first in Ukraine to conduct unique face prosthetic surgeries using titanium plates. The main problems in the area of prosthetic care and rehabilitation of the wounded currently are the following: lack of financing and qualified personnel, heavy bureaucracy system and insufficient number of service centers.