After being shot in both legs by a Hamas sniper in Gaza, Israeli reservist and New York native Aaron Bours is among the many soldiers pioneering the use of cutting-edge rehabilitative technologies that have been a result of Israel’s war with Hamas.
Bours, now 34, moved from Long Island to Israel as a teenager to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and ended up staying in the country.
He describes his first entry into Gaza — weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel — as stepping into a Tolkien-esque apocalyptic landscape. “It’s like Mordor or the Upside Down of ‘Stranger Things,’ ” he told The Post.
Just two weeks into his service, Bours was shot while trying to rescue his commanding officer, who was killed at the scene.
He barely survived, crawling to safety while dragging his smashed leg.
From the initial fear of amputation to transitioning to a wheelchair and then crutches and now to a cane, Bours credits Israel’s medical professionals and technology for his recovery and saving his legs.
In fact, Israel’s war in Gaza has spurred a wave of healthcare innovations that are reshaping both mental and physical recovery for soldiers and civilians.
From surgical robots that remove bullets and shrapnel to 3D-printed prosthetics tailored for rapid deployment, to a battlefield burn treatment developed from pineapples, these technologies are redefining modern medicine and saving lives.
The need is dire: Since the war began,12,000 soldiers have entered the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation department, with 40% sustaining limb trauma and a third facing psychological injuries such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis.
At the forefront of Israel’s rehabilitation push is Sheba Medical Center in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, the Middle East’s largest hospital.
Here, rehabilitation efforts ranging from augmented and virtual reality to AI-driven PTSD treatments are being both researched and deployed as injuries from Gaza — and more recently, Lebanon — continue to mount.
Video-game therapy
At Sheba’s new Immersive Rehabilitation Room, Bours, who lost over three inches of bone in his right leg, has been busy mimicking a monkey catching bananas.
The space, like a video game reimagined for therapy, projects real-life scenarios onto walls and floors embedded with sensors.
“I broke a sweat like I hadn’t done in many months. It’s fun, so the results are that much better,” Bours said of the primate-inspired workout.
Therapists design these patient-customized scenarios to prepare them for civilian life — anything from navigating a simulated mall to meditating on a virtual beach.
“What we aim to do is practice daily activities, and this technology allows us to bring the outside world into the therapy room,” said Maya Ehrlich, a Sheba rehabilitation psychologist and coordinator. She explained that, while much of the video rehab technology existed prior to the war, its use has been expanded for wartime rehabilitation.
For soldiers who’ve required amputation, phantom pain often occurs when the brain repeatedly sends signals to move a limb that no longer exists, interpreting the lack of response as pain.
The MyMove system by Israeli startup 6Degrees alleviates that pain by “tricking” the brain into believing the missing limb is moving.
Patients wear lightweight bands and a VR headset, engaging in games where a virtual version of their limb performs actions.
This reactivates the brain’s motor and sensory circuits to reduce pain and a reliance on medications.
Clinical trials show 88% of users report significant pain relief.
Advanced 3-D printing
Another key wartime development is in the realm of three-dimensional printing, which now enables the rapid production of customized prosthetics and implants.
Although the technology existed previously, it has been integrated into hospitals to create prosthetics in hours rather than weeks.
At Sheba Medical Center’s 3D Center, a precisely designed skull model was manufactured to help surgeons reconstruct the facial structure of IDF officer Omri Rosenblit, who was severely injured in Khan Yunis when a building collapsed on him.
The technology also helped restore his vision.
In another case, a 3D-printed personalized implant (PSI) by Synergy 3DMed helped reconstruct the shattered skull of a military dog injured during a Gaza operation.
Surgeons fitted the piece of the missing skull seamlessly — much like completing a puzzle — resulting in the dog’s full recovery.
Robots and AI
Surgical robotic technology also isn’t entirely new but has been updated in a groundbreaking way at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem after the Oct. 7 attacks.
A robotic guidance system by Israeli company Medtronic was used to remove a bullet lodged in a soldier’s sacrum — the bone at the base of the spine — avoiding paralysis, nerve damage, and lead poisoning.
The minimally invasive procedure took just 90 minutes, which is a fraction of the time required for traditional surgery.
Artificial Intelligence powers Aidoc, a medical imaging system transforming real-time emergency care by quickly identifying and prioritizing critical trauma cases.
It played a key role in saving a 23-year-old Nova massacre survivor who was shot in the eye, with the bullet lodged in her brain. Aidoc mapped the bullet’s path in seconds and sent a push notification to an endovascular surgeon, enabling him to prioritize her treatment and save her life.
Kemtai is an online workout tool that transforms physical therapy by turning any device with a camera into a personal trainer.
The AI-driven platform tracks key body points via smartphone or laptop cameras, offering real-time feedback on exercise form and technique. The technology helps medical providers monitor injured soldiers’ progress and adjust treatment plans remotely.
Another innovation is EyeCon, currently being tested at Rambam Medical Center in the northern city of Haifa, the primary hospital treating soldiers and civilians injured in Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.
Comprising a headband, earphone, and camera, EyeCon is helping bring soldiers out of comas by enabling them to communicate through eye gestures like blinking. The system uses EEG electrodes to monitor brain waves and eye muscle activity, translating these signals into prompts that allow patients with limited consciousness to express their needs and ultimately help pull them back into consciousness.
Battlefield innovations
Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, has introduced whole blood transfusions on the battlefield, making the IDF the first military to implement this life-saving practice.
By delivering comprehensive blood components — red and white blood cells, platelets, and plasma — at the point of injury, survival rates for soldiers suffering massive bleeding and trauma have reached an unprecedented 93%. According to Professor Eilat Shinar, MDA’s director of blood services, the practice could save lives globally, from victims of gun violence to car accident casualties.
Also on the battlefield, the IDF has begun using chip-bearing dog tags to improve care for wounded soldiers.
Medics input treatment details and vital signs through tablets, and the data stays with the patient, ensuring seamless handovers between medics, evacuation teams, and hospital staff.
Revolutionary PTSD treatment
With over a third of soldiers in rehabilitation battling PTSD, the psychological toll of war is expected to cost Israel’s economy upwards of $53 billion in the next five years. To address this, the Defense Ministry has launched grants to support AI-driven mental health solutions.
One such innovation is LIV, a GenAI-powered platform at Sheba that eases the strain on overburdened mental health professionals. Patients interact directly with LIV, sharing their feelings and experiences as the system guides them with questions and prompts.
Using tools rooted in classic psychology, LIV helps patients explore their emotions while simultaneously gathering clinical data. By the time patients meet with a psychiatrist, LIV’s detailed summaries allow doctors to focus on decision-making rather than lengthy intake sessions.
Researchers at the Samueli Initiative for Responsible AI in Medicine and the Psychological Trauma Research Lab at Tel Aviv University have developed a self-guided version of the Immediate Stabilization Procedure (ISP) — a therapist-led, early intervention for trauma — into another self-guided app.
The platform, based on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), is designed to prevent PTSD from developing after a traumatic event. Microsoft Israel R&D volunteered a team of engineers to bring this system to life.
Pineapple miracles
Anat Iosub Amir, director of healthcare investment at Israeli venture capital fund OurCrowd, said that many of these new technologies emerging from the war have applications far beyond the battlefield. “The war was the spark, but these technologies can grow into much bigger markets,” she said. “The unique technology developed for phantom pain in amputees, for example, could easily be adapted for broader pain management, physical therapy needs, or even gaming.”
The new Israeli technologies are also primed for use well beyond Israel’s borders.
Last year, for instance, the US Department of Defense invested $15 million in the Yavne-based firm MediWound to develop a new version of its treatment, NexoBrid, which has been heavily deployed in Gaza.
Based on enzymes extracted from the stems of pineapple plants, NexoBrid removes dead skin cells from severe burns and was recently approved by the FDA for use in children.
The company has just completed a new manufacturing facility and plans to increase production levels by six-fold in the coming year; its stock has also almost doubled.
After five months as an inpatient at Sheba, Bours is now home with his wife, whom he married just weeks before Oct. 7, but still returns for intensive therapy three times a week.
Despite his journey, Bours refuses to give in to self-pity. “We’re a survivalist nation,” he said. “We have to be because otherwise we’d die.”
