Development of an immediate, post-surgery, upper-limb prosthesis: Wound soft, self-fittable and enabling critical rehabilitation and physiotherapy to start earlier for better healthcare outcomes.

COVID-19进一步加剧了NHS假肢服务所面临的挑战。在运动受限和社交距离越来越远的时候，传统的假肢通常无法使用或充其量是有限的，依赖于专门的住院预约、临床医生和定制的装配预约。这意味着截肢者错过了关键的抢先体验，已经不得不等待超过6个月才能第一次使用假肢-COVID可能会进一步增加这一点。Koalaa旨在通过开发世界上第一个术后假肢来应对这些挑战-一个柔软的，灵活的设备，可在手术后24小时内在家中安装或通过远程医疗安装。基于我们的专利“软插座”设计，一系列可互换的工具，并与关键的NHS，患者和康复利益相关者合作，革命性的设备将使假肢的使用和康复比目前可能的提前开始6个月。此外，灵活，标准设计意味着它可以很容易地以类似于袜子的方式安装在各种残肢上-以离散的尺寸提供，并且灵活地安装在用户的肢体上，而无需干预。这种方法完全消除了目前假肢装配服务的密集，昂贵的动手性质，导致截肢者面临相当大的COVID风险。拟议的技术和设计构成了我们产品组合的一部分，旨在解决现有假肢的高成本，高废弃率和舒适度差，同时帮助解决与COVID相关的关键挑战。该技术的好处是巨大且直接的。

COVID-19 has further compounded the challenges faced by the NHS prosthetic service. At a time of movement restrictions and social distancing, traditional prosthesis is often unavailable or at best limited, reliant on a dedicated in-hospital appointment, Clinician and bespoke fitting appointment. This means amputees are missing out on critical early access to prosthesis, already having to wait over 6 months for first access - with COVID likely to increase this even further.Koalaa aim to address these challenges with the development of the world's first post-surgery prosthesis - a soft, flexible device that can be fitted at home or via telemedicine within 24 hours of an operation.Based upon our patented 'soft-socket' design, range of interchangeable tools and working with key NHS, patient and rehabilitation stakeholders, the revolutionary device will enable prosthesis use and rehabilitation to begin 6 months earlier than currently possible.Furthermore, the flexible, standard design means it can be easily fitted to a wide range of residual limbs in a similar way to a sock - provided in discrete sizes and flexibly fit to the user's limb without intervention. This approach completely removes the intensive, expensive hands-on nature of the prosthesis fitting service currently that results in amputees put at considerable COVID risk attending appointment.The proposed technology and design forms part of our portfolio of products aimed at addressing the high cost, high abandonment rate and poor comfort of current prosthesis, whilst helping address a key COVID-related challenge. The benefits of the technology are considerable and immediate.