Biomedical engineer Ajay Banga, left, and Fatima Ahmed, right, of Building Bloc Systems Inc., at their facility in Burnaby, B.C., on Sept. 24. The company has partnered with other experts to deploy a microfactory to Ukraine that can help the country's amputees with custom prosthetics.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
A Canadian company is readying its technology to aid Ukraine with its growing demand for prosthetics as that country’s health care system struggles under the weight of war.
Inside shipping containers, Burnaby, B.C.-based Building Bloc Systems is assembling mobile microfactories with 3-D printers that can manufacture prosthetics at a speed and cost unmatched by a hospital’s conventional means.
Ukraine’s current annual prosthetics production is estimated to be between 8,000 and 25,000, with the vast majority being leg prosthetics, said Harvey Hawes, chief executive officer at Building Bloc. If the company deploys four of its factories, called Delta, to the country, it could double existing production.
“The number of war amputees in Ukraine now hasn’t been seen since World War One, so they’re having to ramp up scale and are struggling to scale,” said Dr. Hawes, who’s also a trauma surgeon and provincial medical director of trauma services for British Columbia.
To respond to the demand, he said the Ukrainian government is establishing an open market for prosthetics, in which companies can offer their products to patients directly.
Fatima Ahmed holds a prosthetic leg at the Building Bloc facility in Burnaby. Amputees require multiple prosthetics as their bodies heal.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
This is one of the initiatives Building Bloc hopes to tap into. In August, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, solidifying the country’s interest in its solution.
Traditionally, Dr. Hawes said the months-long process for making and fitting prosthetics is “manual, very time-dependent and requires almost paper-mâché-type arts and crafts. It’s very bespoke, whereas ours is modern, digital and rapid.”
For example, Building Bloc’s technology can print a leg prosthetic in 44 minutes on average.
The implication of this rate of production is important for patients’ mental and physical health, said Mary Ann Barber, a nurse practitioner, retired captain with the Canadian Armed Forces and adviser to Building Bloc.
“It’s unheard of how fast it’s going to be able to happen,” she said, referring to the speed of Building Bloc’s prosthetics production.
The company uses a scanner to help with custom fits for prosthetic sockets. Building Bloc’s technology can print a leg prosthetic in 44 minutes on average.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
Estimates place the number of total amputees in Ukraine at upward of 50,000, according to an analysis by the Center for European Policy Analysis. Ms. Barber said that in conversations with Ukrainian government officials she’s been told the number of prosthetics the country will need could reach 100,000 over the next few years.
Since amputees require multiple prosthetics as their bodies heal, Dr. Hawes said people whose limbs were amputated near the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are due for replacements, adding to the backlog of those waiting. The surge in demand means wait times for initial prosthetic fittings in Ukraine have extended to several months, Ms. Barber said.
Building Bloc’s model makes it possible to cut waiting times between initial assessments and final fittings down from months to days. Patients can be fit for a temporary prosthetic almost immediately upon receiving care, and their stump can be re-scanned for prosthetic adjustments rapidly and at a low cost, Dr. Hawes said.
Even a temporary prosthetic can make a huge difference to amputees, giving them back some independence and allowing them to continue strengthening their muscles, Ms. Barber said.
“It improves your morale and your mental health, because obviously, having suffered this catastrophic injury has a really significant impact on your mental health,” she said.
Michael Peirone, CEO of prosthetics charity Victoria Hand Project, at Building Bloc's facility in Burnaby.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
Building Bloc is not the only company offering an innovative solution to bolster Ukraine’s prosthetics production. But through partnerships with Canadian organizations such as the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and prosthetics charity, the Victoria Hand Project, Dr. Hawes said the company’s “blocs” serve a greater purpose than just 3-D printing.
Each Delta unit is made up of two containers that, together, can expand to 800 square feet. That makes room for clinic space, which practitioners can use to serve the rehabilitation and mental-health screening needs of patients.
When a factory is deployed, it will travel first by ship and then by train to reach Ukraine. Dr. Hawes said a team of prosthetics and technology experts will go with it to teach those working on the ground in Ukraine how to run it.
“What you really need to do is to augment the clinical training for the people that are assessing and managing the war amputees,” he said.
In terms of who will pay for the factories to be set up in Ukraine, Dr. Hawes said Building Bloc is working with both the federal government and the private sector to secure funding.
Fatima Ahmed holds prosthetic legs made by Building Bloc Systems. The company’s model cuts waiting times between initial assessments and final fittings down from months to days.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
The initial cost of the program in Ukraine, which includes four Delta units, training and support services and deployment, is expected to cost about $13-million. Post-deployment, Dr. Hawes said the per-unit cost of prosthetics will be comparable to what Ukraine is already paying.
Funding is the only thing standing between Building Bloc and the deployment of its Delta units to Ukraine. Otherwise, it could have the first one ready to go within nine months and subsequent units ready to ship every three to four months to fulfill an order, Dr. Hawes said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s mandate to support Ukraine and the allocation of funds to procure critical equipment, including medical equipment, is encouraging, he said. Now, he’d like to see it translate into streamlined pathways for Canadian companies with innovative solutions that respond to Ukraine’s call for aid.
Senator Rebecca Patterson, who introduced the Ukrainian government to Building Bloc, said Canada also stands to benefit from the company’s work there through an exchange of data and capacity building at home.
“A secure Ukraine helps make a secure Canada,” she said.
Building Bloc developed a prototype unit for the Canadian Armed Forces in 2024 through the federal government’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security program. It’s currently building a second, more advanced unit to be tested in military exercises with NATO members and health care applications in Northern Canada.
Beyond prosthetics, Building Bloc’s technology can print a variety of medical supplies. Ms. Barber said she wishes she had had access to something like this while working in war zones and remote communities, where she often had to rely upon a combination of “duct tape and a creative mind.”
She’s hoping the company’s technology receives the support it needs to help Canadian forces at home, as well as allies abroad.
“It has so much potential to be a game changer.”
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