“The Paralympics are a moment in which people, all of them, become aware not only of the existence of people with disabilities, but of the potential that these people continue to have. I always see them as a moment of pride, of satisfaction”. The most futuristic prostheses are ‘daily bread’ for Silvestro Micera, professor of bioengineering at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. And yet the expert says he was moved when he saw on TV yesterday the Italian fencer Bebe Vio walking confidently on her prostheses through the crowd, firmly holding the torch in the relay for the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron, and then the last torchbearer turned with his back to the golden hot air balloon, the profile of his right leg ending in a racing blade. “Implantable or wearable technologies have already helped many people, but I firmly believe that in the next 20 or 30 years they will do so even more.“, he assures Adnkronos Salute.
“We are at the beginning of what I hope will truly be a technological revolution. which will make “all these devices” even more useful and even more common – says Micera, a pioneer in the development of ‘bionic’ prostheses that can even make you perceive the heat of objects – There will be more and more wearable or implantable technologies that can give a better quality of life, more opportunities to people with various motor, sensorial or cognitive disabilities”. The challenge now, the scientist highlights, “is to bring more new systems into the clinic, on the one hand, and on the other to bring them also to developing countries“. The watchword: “Frugal innovation”, he explains, that is, the commitment to “finding a way to create solutions” that are sustainable and “usable for a greater number of people, and immediately also in developing countries that have an enormous need for them, but where perhaps greater attention to the costs of these systems is necessary”.
“In some countries, many unfortunately in reality, it is still difficult to have easy access to technology. In Italy – he reasons – fortunately people with motor or sensory disabilities have enormous possibilities. Because the health service or agencies like Inail provide the devices. In a developing country it is much more complicated. And for that you have to find developments that are perhaps a little less technologically advanced, but more easily usable even in these areas”. An example? “Sant’Anna School has a beautiful project called AfricaConnect. The colleagues who are part of it work with agencies to make even small improvements to existing systems in Africa. Small changes that can mean big improvements in the quality of life.” In short, there is a lot to change and to do.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Paralympic Committee have also highlighted the topic of accessibility, highlighting the power of assistive technology and its “transformative impact” on sports at the opening of the Paris Paralympics. Think of racing blades, state-of-the-art wheelchairs, release braces in archery. The ‘Equipped for equity’ campaign calls for global action to improve access to these essential health products. Assistive technology supports athletes to compete at the highest levels, allows them to redefine what is possible in sport and inspire millions of people around the world, it is highlighted.
But in real life, WHO estimates that access to this technology remains severely limited in many parts of the world, compared to a total of more than 2.5 billion people who need it. For example, only 5-35% of the 80 million who need a wheelchair have access to this tool. And only 10% of the global demand for hearing aids is currently met, the UN agency said in a statement.
This is why a stage like Paris 2024 is important. Also for this reason. “The Paralympics are a moment of great visibility, and in my opinion it is beautiful and fundamental that they are celebrated – concludes Micera – Among other things, although inspired by the doctor Ludwig Guttmann, the first in history were officially held in 1960 right in Rome, as an Italian I am proud of this. There is also a technological equivalent, if you like. It is called ‘Cybathlon’. The interesting thing is that they are in some way the ‘Paralympics 2.0’. A look at what will be: while in the Paralympic Games the athletes use clinically consolidated technologies, the Cybathlon is a competition between people who use systems at the latest frontier of technological evolution. The creator is a professor from the ETH in Zurich, Robert Riener. The spirit is different, obviously. But in some way it is as if we can see what the Paralympics will be like maybe in 20 years. A preview of the future”.
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