Lancaster University researchers are working with their Ukrainian counterparts and UK amputees to make prosthetic limbs more comfortable for injured military personnel in the war.

Since the start of the war in 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian military personnel and civilians have experienced catastrophic traumatic injuries resulting in loss of one or more of their limbs.

Dr Hannah Jarvis and Professor Adam Taylor from Lancaster Medical School and Professor Allan Rennie from the School of Engineering are leading research with Dnipro University of Technology and Kharkiv National Medical University. The team is working to develop new designs for prosthetic sockets that will help improve mobility, comfort and independence by developing a novel socket that can adapt to changes in shape, size, heat and humidity.

Dr Jarvis, a Lecturer in Biomechanics, said: "There is an urgent need for better prosthetic socket fitting, socket(s) that can adapt to the often-non-uniform limb shape and accommodate for daily changes in limb volume will revolutionise prosthetic care not only for amputees in Ukraine but also globally."

Hannah Jarvis, Lecturer in Biomechanics at Lancaster University, demonstrates Qualisys motion technology in use to visitors from Dnipro University of Technology and Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine.

Gregg Stevenson MBE, Armed forces Covenant Project manager at Lancashire County Council, is supporting the team’s work, assisting the training on scanning and motion technology.

Gregg lost his lower legs in 2009 following an incident in a routine foot patrol while serving in Afghanistan and offers insight into the difference socket comfort makes.

Gregg Stevenson MBE, has his residual limb scanned by researchers from Dnipro University of Technology and Kharkiv Medical National Medical University as part of a training visit to Lancaster University.

He said: “It’s important to remain active and mobile, to go to work and look after a family. Innovative work like this means improvements to the everyday lives of people with prosthetic limbs everywhere. It is great to be able to partner with Lancaster University and to support Ukraine in this work.”

A further challenge is the need to ensure the prosthetic devices are easy to produce and a reasonable cost so there can be the fittings and re-fittings personalised for each patient.

Professor Allan Rennie, Associate Dean for Engagement in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Lancaster University, shows visitors from Ukraine round the Lancaster University Engineering Buildings.

Allan Rennie, Professor in Manufacturing Engineering, said: “We have to balance what’s most cost effective, given the huge numbers of military personnel and civilians, including children affected, with the best possible outcomes for amputees. We’re looking to use an additive manufacturing approach to allow for the socket design to be customised and reconfigured to meet individual needs.”

Dnipro University of Technology student, Mariia Romanets, Kharkiv National Medical University Vice-Rector for Research and Education, Dr Oleksandr Kryvoshapka, and Dr Olena Semenenko, who joins the trip from Kharkiv as a translator, set up a Qualisys motion camera

In support of the project, Qualisys Motion Capture and Technology Systems who design and manufacture 3D cameras and software for motion capture, have donated equipment to Dnipro University of Technology that will be used in Ukraine to gather data, recording movements and analysing the pressure points on prosthetic limbs. The Ukrainian researchers are also spending time at Lancaster University learning about scientific analysis and the use of 3D scanning, digital design and additive manufacturing. The aim is to produce a functional prototype to be used for testing by February 2027.

Lancaster University and Dnipro University of Technology have been partnered through the Twin for Hope initiative, launched in 2022 by Universities UK International and Cormack Consultancy Group, to support UK and Ukrainian universities following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dr Serhii Onyshchenko, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at Dnipro University of Technology is co-lead on the project with Dr Hannah Jarvis. Here Serhii, along with colleagues from Dnipro are learning how to assemble the Qualisys cameras.

Dr Serhii Onyshchenko from Dnipro University of Technology said: “The latest prosthetic limb project is a great opportunity to strengthen the international research cooperation between Dnipro and Lancaster universities and come up with better solutions for quality of life of lower limb amputees in Ukraine."

“This collaboration for us is more than just research or projects. In the context of war, it has become a symbol of support, trust, and true partnership,” said Kharkiv National Medical University’s Dr Oleksandr Kryvoshapka. “Together with Lancaster, we are not only exchanging knowledge, we are shaping a new standard of medical education and rehabilitation that already helps our patients and gives hope for recovery. We truly value this collaboration, as it brings together professionalism, humanity, and a shared mission to improve people’s lives.”

Kharkiv National Medical University Vice-Rector for Research and Education, Dr Oleksandr Kryvoshapka joins colleagues from Dnipro in setting up Qualisys cameras with Dr Olena Semenenko

Since the beginning of the twinning partnership, Lancaster University and Dnipro University of Technology have collaborated on other research about the restoration of war damaged soils and supported student mobility and study through scholarships and online opportunities such as the Undergraduate Research Conference.

Over the past year, the two institutions have collaborated on a knowledge exchange programme to support the development of academic reputation building, ensuring the visibility of research being produced by universities in Ukraine and supporting the building of networks – work that will contribute to the capacity and resilience building aims set out by the Twin for Hope initiative.