Intelligent Walker Designed To Assist The Elderly And People Undergoing Medical Rehabilitation

“A team of researchers from the Departments of Software, Automatic Control, Strength of MaMechanical Engineering, Materials and Structural Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), led by Ulises Cortés and Antonio B. Martínez, has designed an intelligent walker (i-Walker) that goes a step beyond conventional walkers as it can communicate with the user, think for itself and react to the environment.”
Article
Science Daily, 7 November 2008

Introducing Wii Fit Computer Console Into Physiotherapy Departments To Aid The Rehabilitation Of Young Patients

“Two Lancashire hospitals have taken the unusual step of introducing the Wii Fit computer console into their Physiotherapy Departments to aid the rehabilitation of young patients.”
Article
Medical News Today, 22 October 2008

Rehabilitation centers plug into video games

“The Wii system is an excellent, affordable way of simulating activity that rehab providers can provide, particularly to geriatric patients,” said Gregg Altobella, president of the National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies, based in Tampa, Fla. “Its popularity is growing rapidly.”
Article
A.J. Panian, Tribune Review, 28 July 2008

Ohio hospital uses Wii-habilitation

“In an effort to get patients back on their feet more quickly, Lake Hospital System in Ohio is using the Wii Fit a video game that is designed to move the body in ways that are similar to traditional therapy exercises.
Lake Hospital System is using the video game to help patients recover from strokes, surgeries and broken bones by improving their cardiovascular fitness, aerobic strength and balance.”
Article
Molly Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 6 June 2008

Special WABT session at ICMCC Event

Empowering Disabled People with ICT Tools
organised by Prof. Giuseppe Tritto, President of the WABT (World Academy of Biomedical Technologies)

Session overview:

• Disability definitions and trends for e-Health policies and services
  Giuseppe TRITTO, President WABT (ICET/UNESCO), World Academy of BioMedical Sciences and Technologies, Paris, France
• Empowering Mr Green with ICT tools
  Malcolm Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Data Communication Systems and Telemedicine, Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, UK
• ICT for home-based service to maintain the upper limb function: a telerehabilitation experience
  Marco Rogante, Dipartimento Tecnologie e Salute (Technology and Health Dept.), Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italian National Institute of Health), Rome, Italy
• Research on a mechanically efficient sensing surface for information retrieval in healthcare.
  Peter Brett, Biomedical Engineering, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
• A New Generation of Assistive Technologies: the robot appliance for eating
  Giuseppina Anna Di Lauro, CEO DEDALO SOLUTIONS, President Club of Spin-off Companies, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa Italy

Whole-Body Gaming

“The massive success of the Nintendo Wii proved the appeal of motion-controlled gaming. Now Softkinetic, a company based in Belgium, is working to let video-game players use a wider range of more-natural movements to control the on-screen action. Softkinetic’s software is meant to work with depth-sensing cameras, which can be used to determine a player’s body position and motions. “You don’t need a controller in your hand,” says CEO Michel Tombroff. “You don’t need to wear a special outfit. You just come in front of the camera in your living room, and you start playing by moving your entire body.”
Article
Erica Naone, Technology Review, 5 May 2008

NEXES

NEXES project concerns the deployment of integrated care services for chronic patients based on structured interventions addressing prevention, healthcare and social support. Services are selected from positive outcomes of work done in previous EU projects and in collaboration with industrial partners. Innovation relies on the interplay of three factors: adoption of an integrative approach including profound organizational changes, facing the co-morbidity challenge and the use of ICT as modular and scalable tools supporting interoperability among actors. Two groups of target users are identified and addressed: on one side the citizens at risk, patients and care providers and on the other side Health and community professionals. The former ones are the beneficiaries and active users of the services, the latter ones provide services in their respective domains, but they are also beneficiaries since they receive input/support from reference professionals. The Linkcare platform (Linkcare eTEN 517435, 2005-07) sets the reference architecture. Modularity, flexibility and scalability are based on Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) using the IBM UML 2.0 Profile for Software Services. The ICT platform is a web-based application addressed to management of chronic patients and elderly, facilitating organizational interoperability following a distributed model. It will incorporate knowledge management applications and evolve to an IMS platform.

The list of main programs includes:

1. Wellness-rehabilitation: Early diagnosis, promotion of healthy life-styles and patient self-management. Physical activity and cognitive aspects being main components
2. Enhanced Care Support of unplanned hospitalizations
3. Home hospitalization of patients with exacerbations
4. Support: Transient remote support to diagnosis and/or treatment

The service portfolio includes:

a) Health portal
b) Call centre service
c) Professional mobile access
d) Patient wireless monitoring service
e) Collaborative work service
f) Security modules
g) Interoperability module with hospital information systems and shared electronic patient records.

To be presented at the ICMCC Event 2008.

Virtual reality and computer technology improve stroke rehabilitation

“Israeli hospitals have recently started to use virtual reality therapy for stroke patients.
One commonly used program has the patient watch his virtual image on a screen. For example, tennis balls are virtually thrown at the patient from all directions and the patients’ actual hand motions are recorded on screen.”
Article
Amir Gilat, Innovations Report, 11 March 2008

RFID Moves Beyond Assets

“Columbus (Ind.) Regional Hospital executives wanted to get the most bang for the buck from their new nurse call system.
So when they discovered that the technology, from Rauland-Borg Corp., Skokie, Ill., can use radio frequency identification technology to track clinicians to enable them to better communicate with each other, they came up with some other ideas for how RFID could help improve workflow and patient care.”
Article
Health Data Management, 1 January 2008

ARMin: a robot for patient-cooperative arm therapy

“Task-oriented, repetitive and intensive arm training can enhance arm rehabilitation in patients with paralyzed upper extremities due to lesions of the central nervous system. There is evidence that the training duration is a key factor for the therapy progress. Robot-supported therapy can improve the rehabilitation allowing more intensive training. This paper presents the kinematics, the control and the therapy modes of the arm therapy robot ARMin. It is a haptic display with semi-exoskeleton kinematics with four active and two passive degrees of freedom. Equipped with position, force and torque sensors the device can deliver patient-cooperative arm therapy taking into account the activity of the patient and supporting him/her only as much as needed. The haptic display is combined with an audiovisual display that is used to present the movement and the movement task to the patient. It is assumed that the patient-cooperative therapy approach combined with a multimodal display can increase the patient’s motivation and activity and, therefore, the therapeutic progress.”
Abstract
Tobias Nef, Matjaz Mihelj, Robert Riener, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, Volume 45, Number 9 / September, 2007, 887-900

An RFID-based system for assisted living: Challenges and Solutions

Judith Symonds a, David Parry a,b and Jim Briggs b
a School of Computing and Mathematics, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
b School of Computing, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Abstract.

Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) offers a potentially flexible and low cost method of locating objects and tracking people within buildings. RFID systems generally require less infrastructure to be installed than other solutions but have their own limitations. As part of an assisted living system, RFID tools may be useful to locate lost objects, support blind and partially sighted people with daily living activities and assist in the rehabilitation of adults with acquired brain injury. This paper outlines the requirements and the role of RFID in assisting people in these three areas. The development of a prototype RFID home support tool is described and some of the issues and challenges raised are discussed. The system is designed to support assisted living for elderly and infirm people in a simple, usable and extensible way in particular for supporting the finding and identification of commonly used and lost objects such as spectacles. This approach can also be used to extend the tagged domain to commonly visited areas, and provide support for the analysis of common activities, and rehabilitation.

Empowering the impaired through the appropriate use of Information Technology and Internet

Ishita Sanyal
Founder Secretary, Turning Point, a rehabilitation center; Director Disha, a child guidance center; Member of WFSAD (World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and allied disorder); Indian Representative of ISPS (The International Society for Psychological Treatment of Schizophrenias and other Psychoses); Director of NAMI, India, Eastern Region

Abstract

Developments in the fields of science and technology have revolutionized Human Life at material level. But in actuality, this progress is only superficial: underneath modern men and women are living in conditions of great mental and emotional stress, even in developed and affluent countries. People from all over the world irrespective of culture and economic background suffer from mental illness and though a number of researches are carried out worldwide but till date it has not been possible to resolve the problem.
In today’s world stress is increasing everyday. The individualistic approach towards life; the neonatal family system has increased the burden even further. Without adequate support system of friends and relatives – people are falling prey to mental illness. The insecurities, the inferiority feelings of these persons lead to disruption of communication between the sufferer and the family members and friends. The sufferers prefer to confine themselves within the four walls of their home and remain withdrawn from the whole world. They prefer to stay in touch with their world of fantasy – far away from the world of reality. Disability caused by some of the mental illnesses often remains invisible to the society leading to lack of support system and facilities for them.

These unfortunate disabled persons not only need medication and counseling but a thorough rehabilitation programme to bring them back to the main stream of life. The task being not an easy one. According to the research works these persons need some work and income to improve their quality of life.

In this scenario where society is adverse towards them, where stigma towards mental illness prevails; where help from friends and community is not available- training them in computer and forming groups through computer was thought to be an ideal option for the solution- a solution to the problems of modern life through modern technology.

• It was seen that this insecure disabled persons feel free to experiment with machine more easily than with society and people.
• Computer provides them the needed education and information needed for their further developments.
• Computers provide them facilities to interact with others and form self-help groups.
• Computers also enabled them to earn their livelihood.

Thus this modern gadget, which is sometimes believed to make a man loner, has been actually acting as the bridge between the persons suffering from mental illness to the society in general. The disabled person also gains confidence and courage as they gain control over the machine. Gaining control over the machine helps them to gain control over their life. The product of Science and technology has been seen to revolutionized Human Life not only in material level but also on personal level helping the disabled to gain control over their lives.