Tool kit to make limb-saving devices developed by British scientists set to transform treatment in crisis zones where battles have caused thousands of dreadful extremity wounds and crush injuries in people who would lose legs and arms without urgent medical technological intervention.

How it relates to war in Ukraine:

> Two shattering events played a critical role in British scientists’ efforts to develop technology that could transform the treatment of people who suffer traumatic injuries in wars or disasters.

> The first was the blast that devastated Beirut on 4 August 2020, when a vast store of ammonium nitrate exploded in the city, killing more than 200 people and injuring 7,000. The second was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has left hundreds of thousands of casualties have been inflicted since war erupted there in February 2022

> “We concentrated on devices known as external fixators,” Saeidi told the Observer. “These are used when a gunshot or a mine explosion or a collapsed building severs a person’s leg or arm bones. By holding pieces of shattered bone together, the injured person’s deep flesh wounds get a chance to recover and their limbs can be saved.

> However, external ­fixators are complex and expensive. A single device can cost more than £2,000 and in conflict zones they are difficult to access. Sometimes homemade fixators are made but they often lead to serious complications.

> Bull and Saeidi have developed sets of instructions that can be used to manufacture fixators with limited skills and resources. “All that is needed is a supply of aluminium and some stainless steel rods,” said Saeidi. “It is very straightforward.”