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Amputee receives first smart prosthetic limb in Gaza

The first electronic prosthetic hand for a patient with the right hand amputated was recently carried out in the Gaza Strip with Qatari funding and support.

Dr. Omar Hafizah, head of the Prosthetics Department at Hamad Medical Corporation, who was accompanying the Qatari delegation during his visit to the hospital to install modern prosthetics, appears in the photo with the first person to receive the smart prosthesis, Aug. 3, 2021.
Dr. Omar Hafizah, head of the Prosthetics Department at Hamad Medical Corporation, who was accompanying the Qatari delegation during his visit to the hospital to install modern prosthetics, appears in the photo with the first person to receive the smart prosthesis, Aug. 3, 2021. — Courtesy of Hamad Medical Corporation

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Ibrahim Habboub, a doctor from the Gaza Strip, lost his right arm in an explosion in 2001. For many years, he used dynamic mechanical prosthetic upper body limb and aesthetic prosthetics, but those were not ideal especially since he works as a dermatologist.

Habboub, 46, is the first case to benefit from an electronic prosthetic upper body limb in the Gaza Strip. On Aug. 3, the operation was carried out at the Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in Gaza, where the first upper body limb prosthetic was fitted under the supervision of a Qatari medical team and with funding from the Qatar Fund For Development.

The head of the prosthetics department at the Doha-based Hamad Medical Corporation, Amer Hawafiza, was among the visiting team at the Gaza hospital, whose goal was to evaluate upper limb amputations and decide on suitability to receive a prosthetic limb.

The smart prosthetic limb is controlled by the brain and nerves instead of mechanical motion. This will allow Habboub to exercise his profession without difficulties.

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