Lviv at first glance does not appear as a city of a country at war. That there is a conflict taking place, however, is strongly felt arriving at the large city hospital, the First Medical Union and, above all, crossing the long glass tunnel that connects it to the new National Rehabilitation Center Unbroken, inaugurated a few weeks ago. Unbroken, they explain, could be translated as 'Indestructible': a name not chosen at random but which refers to the thousands of civilians and soldiers whose arms and legs have been taken away by the war and who arrive in emergency in Lviv. The goal of the doctors, here, is that they can walk again, indestructible despite everything. A dream achievable also thanks to Italian robotic technology, which has gained an important role in the Unbroken center.
With almost 15,125 civilians injured and over 5,12 military since the beginning of the war with Russia, Ukraine is now facing an unprecedented health and rehabilitation emergency. And Lviv - on the border with Europe and less affected by the conflict - has become a major humanitarian hub: to date, it has welcomed 350 million refugees from the rest of the country and its hospital has treated over <> thousand wounded, including more than <> children. And the tragedy continues.
"In Lviv - says Volodymyr Fedorov, director of development of the hospital - two trains a week still arrive loaded with wounded. The beds for rehabilitation were no longer enough, so we built Unbroken, in less than three months: a center of 4,500 square meters on 7 floors, also equipped with psychological rehabilitation, also made possible by international aid. Here we also produce the necessary prostheses directly, 140 those implanted since September. When fully operational, we aim to treat 500,<> people a year".
A race against time to try to restore the ability to move to those who lost it on the battlefield and a great hand comes from Italian technology. In fact, the robotic technology of Movendo Technology has landed at the Unbroken Center, a company born from a spin-off of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) founded by Simone Ungaro (in the past also general director of the same IIT, established together with its scientific director Roberto Cingolani) and Sergio Dompè, president of the homonymous biopharmaceutical group.
It is, explains Daphne Arfanotti, clinical manager of Movendo, an "advanced robotic platform. In practice, the amputee patient or with a limb prosthesis is subjected to stresses that recover muscle tone and prepare for the return to walking, preventing the risk of falling. The robot, thanks to AI, therefore assesses the patient's status and elaborates a personalized rehabilitation evaluating the improvements over time". The Italian robot was already present before the conflict at the Kharkiv hospital, says Ungaro, "but it was destroyed by bombing. We wanted to return to Lviv because now we are in a war scenario and our presence is even more important. Moreover, at the recent Conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine held in Rome on April 26 - he notes - the invitation launched was to be present in the country, and we are ready to welcome him and to support the Ukrainians in this difficult undertaking".
Meanwhile, patients at the Unbroken Center have begun to be treated with the Italian robot. Andreiy, 37, is one of the first. A year ago, in battle, he was shot and lost a leg. He arrives on crutches but is smiling. He tries the robotic platform, which guides the patient in the exercises also through a sort of video games, and tells us that he intends to win this race with the robot: "I no longer have a leg but I'm alive, it's okay - he says -. I would do everything I did again and go back to fighting, because it's about defending our families and our children. I'm sure we'll win in the end." Now, however, Andreiy has another goal to focus on: "I want to be able to climb the highest hill in Lviv and then train for a Paralympic career." All in all, he concludes by greeting, "I am serene. I will give it my all and your robotic machine will help me. Thank you, Italian friends."