Russia
It’s no secret that bionic prosthetics are sooo expensive. Both in Russia and abroad, a minimal number of potential users can get a high-tech prosthesis.
So how do you get a cool prosthesis for an ordinary person? While our team is developing an accessible bony hand prosthesis, I will tell you how today Russia invalids can become cyborgs.
How much does it cost to become a cyborg
At the end of last year, a prosthetic forearm with a bioelectric brush Bebionic 3 cost in Russia about 1.8 – 2 million rubles. The shoulder prosthesis will cost more – the elbow joint adds about 200-300 thousand rubles to the total amount. It should be understood that the cost of the prosthesis depends on the level of amputation, the region where the prosthesis is installed and the accessories (the electric wrist rotator, for example, costs several hundred thousand rubles).
More advanced brushes (for example Michelangelo hand and I-limb Quantum) cost 1.5-2 times more expensive.
Michelangelo hand and I-limb Quantum
There are options and simpler. In 2014, the brush Myofacil from Otto Bock cost about 750 thousand rubles. Considering that Otto Bock annually raises prices, I assume that now such a prosthetic forearm costs about 1 million rubles.
Myofacil
The cost of a prosthesis usually includes the work of a prosthetist (ie, the manufacture of a culture receptacle), a charger, a spare battery, a cosmetic glove (per one glove for six months), and warranty repairs for a period of 2 years. With the prosthesis from Otto Bock, a prosthetic care tool is also supplied, and Bebionic 3 comes with a bluetooth adapter and a CD with a brush to adjust the brush.
At the moment, there are three ways to purchase a high-tech prosthesis:
1. Get at the expense of the state.
2. Buy at own expense.
3. Through charitable funds and crowdfunding.
I will not consider the last two options now. Because even if you have a couple of free million rubles, or if you suddenly buy a prosthesis of a fund or benefactor – this will not solve the problem in the future. After 2 years, the guarantee will end on the prosthesis, and with active use the prosthesis will necessarily break.
By the way, that’s why we in Motorka started repairing hand prostheses and are ready to extend the life of artificial limbs as much as possible. But in a few years the prosthesis will still have to be changed. Therefore, if you do not have a multi-million-dollar salary, seriously only consider prosthetics at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund.
The important point. Unfortunately, I personally came across people who received bionic prostheses and did not use them. Bebionic3, received from the state for 2 million rubles, can lie on a dusty shelf. Why? Because many people with disabilities are accustomed to do without a prosthesis and they interfere with it more than help. Or, for example, a person received a prosthetic brush, but he was too lazy to study or manage the prosthesis seemed too complicated. Please do not do this. The budget of the Social Insurance Fund is not infinite, and the prosthesis you received for free and as a result did not use it could really improve someone’s life.
Cyborgization at the State’s expense
According to the law, all citizens of the Russian Federation with a disability have the right to receive a technical means of rehabilitation (TSD) at the expense of the state. It is for such things that we all pay taxes and dues, bear collective responsibility and can receive collective support if necessary. Prosthesis for budgetary money can be obtained in two ways:
1. Acquire TSD independently and after receiving compensation for the prosthesis from the state.
The main problem of this option is that in some regions the disabled are not compensated for the whole amount spent on the prosthesis. The amount of compensation depends on the amount of the last bid realized. And in such competitions the prosthesis, which costs the least, wins. Often the winners come out some denture developed in the 70’s, which the user does not even wear. Because of this, for example, in the Voronezh Region, compensation for the purchased bionic prosthesis of the brush is about 150 thousand rubles.
2. Get a prosthesis through government procurement
The procedure for obtaining a good prosthesis for a government account is usually a long and complicated procedure, and not all disabled people get exactly the TCP that they want. The success of this event depends heavily on the prosperity of the region – in Moscow and St. Petersburg it is much easier to get bionics than in the provinces.
The main stages (on the example of obtaining a bionic hand):
1. First, a person who has lost a hand must undergo a medical and social expertise (ITU).
The ITU is a kind of consultation of physicians that establishes a group of disabilities and determines what rehabilitation activities are needed for the disabled person to restore the lost functions (both from a medical and a social point of view).
It is the ITU that determines whether a person is entitled to a bionic prosthesis or he will do it with hooks or at all – a cosmetic prosthesis:
traction prosthesis of the shoulder
cosmetic prosthesis forearm
What is the ITU guided by the appointment of a prosthesis? Diagnosis and “perspective” of the disabled person. That is, if you are young and ambitious, and a bionic prosthesis will allow you to lead an active social life (for example, to get a job) – your chances of getting bionics will be higher than those of an old recluse. In addition, there is a list of contraindications for prosthetics, for example, mental disorders in the stage of exacerbation, etc. A direct contraindication for obtaining bionics is the weak activity of the muscles responsible for controlling the prosthesis.
Let’s assume everything went well, the ITU went to a meeting with the disabled person and received an individual rehabilitation program marked “Prosthesis of the forearm with an external energy source.” Now the state is obliged to provide it with a bioelectric prosthesis.
2. The disabled person writes an application to the local Social Insurance Fund, where he is given a direction for prosthetics within two weeks (according to the law). In theory, the FSS places an application for prosthetics at an auction in which various prosthetic enterprises participate and the invalid will be prosthetized in the company that will offer the minimum price for making the prosthesis.
3. PROFIT. A happy disabled person gets a steep prosthesis and lives cloverily. After 3 years, the bionic prosthesis can be changed, again at the expense of the FSS.
But we will return to reality. Obtaining a prosthesis can be delayed for years or not at all unsuccessful.
The thing is that Russia has a system in which the efficiency of the Social Insurance Fund is estimated by the number of issued TCPs. And what is more advantageous: to give one disabled a bionic brush for a million, or for the same money to give out hooks for 30 disabled? That’s it. Therefore, the state seeks to give out as many cheap TCP as possible to as many disabled people as possible. And this is to some extent justified, because according to statistics hand prostheses in Russia are provided only a third of all needy.
That is why one of the main directions of the work of “Motoriki” is cooperation with state bodies and prosthetic enterprises. We actively travel around the country and in many regions we find support from caring officials and prosthetists who really want to change the outdated system. At us it has turned out for short term to certify and to start massively to make traction prosthetic hands of “Kibi”. In some regions, for example, in Arkhangelsk, Novosibirsk and Novokuznetsk, our prostheses can already be obtained directly from the local prosthetic enterprises.
Of course, one can not change the system and people in it overnight. In some provincial city, conditional Antonina Ivanovna from the ITU never saw the prostheses she appointed. She was used to always prescribe cosmetic dentures, not realizing that such a prosthesis is practically useless in everyday life. Or her colleague, conditional Valentin Petrovich, who does not really understand anything in prostheses, and he himself asks the disabled person what kind of prosthesis to inscribe to him, and grumbles at noisy mother with the child and in general-his dinner.
To illustrate hell, Through which sometimes it is necessary to pass Russian invalids, the story of Svetlana Churakova from Arkhangelsk is well suited. She got one of the most top-end bionic hands for two years. One year went to the trial with the ITU – she was refused for a long time to appoint bionics. It even went so far that she was summoned to the federal expertise in Moscow, where she was forced to showcase dishes in order to find out how well she copes with the old traction prosthesis. Like, maybe she does not need a new one at all? Another year left for correspondence with the FSS and active advocacy of their rights. But, thanks in large part to the active support of the Arkhangelsk-based prosthetic enterprise, everything has turned out and now Sveta has turned into a real bionic princess:
I repeat that in some regions Our country’s system is more supportive of people with disabilities and it is quite possible to get a high-quality prosthesis there. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all workers in the industry who welcome changes (there are many such people) and help people with disabilities get really useful, modern means of rehabilitation.
Ok. And abroad is better?
No, not better. Get a bionic prosthesis is not at all easy in Europe and the US.
According to Jason Barnes, American drummer-cyborg and Bebionic3 user, getting a bionic prosthesis in the USA is “unrealistically difficult”, and the final cost of a prosthesis with insurance can reach $ 100,000
] Jason Barnes
Here is what the Englishman Nigel Eklund told me, which you can know from official Bebionic commercials:
The cost of Bebionic 3 in England is about £ 15,000. Another £ 6,000 – £ 10,000 worth of fabrication of the culture receptacle.
Getting Bebionic in England is a difficult task. The National Health Service provides bionics for 10-15 people per year. Almost everyone I know tries to raise money for a prosthesis independently, besides they have to collect money for warranty service or insurance against Russia breakage.
I have high hopes for 3D printing – this is the only way to “tighten” greedy corporations. Printing dentures on 3D printers will allow many people to have good prostheses. I think it’s wrong when large companies benefit from the failures of people. Nigel AcklandOn this optimistic note, I will once again remind you that the future is coming and our team is already doing everything today.
For the emergence of affordable high-tech prostheses in Russia. The Strodivari bio-electric brush is already on its way. Follow the Russia news!
If you have a prosthetic leg, but you can not get it because of bureaucratic delays, write to us and we will do our best to help you.
P.s. Friends, maybe there is something that you are especially interested in in the topic of bionics and high-tech prosthetics in Russia? Write your questions and wishes in the comments.
