Summary

A Spanish research group has developed a sensorised device for the rehabilitation of a body limb. The system constitutes an integrated rehabilitation tool for people with mobility problems in the upper limb, easy to use and based on user motivation. The technology, which is protected under patent application, has been developed at laboratory scale and a prototype is available for demonstration. Companies interested in license or technical cooperation agreements are sought.

Full description

In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the number of people with motor disabilities, due to global ageing. For this reason, public and private healthcare systems are investing more in rehabilitation technologies, and especially in tele-rehabilitation both at home and in centres, as it helps to avoid unnecessary physical contact between patients and therapists, as well as improving the rehabilitation process by increasing repeatability and intensity. Motor impairment of the limbs, in particular the upper limbs, is one of the most limiting conditions for activities of daily living, so effective rehabilitation is essential to regain quality of life. Over the last decades, a wide range of robot-assisted technologies have been developed that surpass the effectiveness of conventional manual therapies. Anthropomorphic devices, such as upper limb exoskeletons, are also common, although they are biomechanically more complex. However, all these technologies are expensive and unaffordable for individuals and most rehabilitation centres. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, existing rehabilitation services have been disrupted. This disruption, and the need to avoid patient visits and attendance at hospital or rehabilitation centres, reflects the importance of competitive, reliable, and accessible rehabilitation, tele-rehabilitation and home-based rehabilitation systems. In this sense, a Spanish research group has developed a sensorised device that allows the active physical rehabilitation of people with reduced mobility of a body limb, preferably an upper limb, by means of virtual and augmented reality. The proposed device is composed of the following elements: 1. An adjustable sleeve (elastic textile covering) for the user's arm sensorised with inertial sensors or IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) and EMG (ElectroMyoGraphy) type sensors; The former allow recording the orientation and movement of each of the kinematic links that make up the body limb, while the latter allow obtaining the raw value or linear envelope of the rectified signal of the electrical signals of the muscles. 2. A computer application to provide the user with active rehabilitation exercises based on virtual reality and/or augmented reality applications that monitor the patient's movements and propose specific exercises through the user interface, adapted to the patient's condition. 3. Intelligent software for calculating the kinematics of the arm, in particular angular positions and velocities, and end position, by analysing data from inertial sensors and for adjusting exercises depending on the patient's muscle activity, such as force amplitude or fatigue, by analysing data from EMG sensors. In addition, the sensorised device comprises: • a power supply battery, for the correct power supply of all electronic components integrated in the textile cover; • a DC-DC step-down transformer, so that the output voltage is kept constant regardless of disturbances or alterations in the input voltage, adapting the battery voltage to the voltage required by the microcontroller or means of control and the connected components; • a plastic housing for all electronic components for better protection and isolation from interference and shock; • means of controlling the inertial sensor and/or electromyographic sensor (microcontroller module); • means of wireless transmission (wifi interface); • a data processing device (computer, mobile phone, monitor, virtual/augmented reality glasses, or equivalent). Figure 1 shows the device's hardware architecture. The blocks that make up the body limb kinematics calculation software are: • the data acquisition block; • the electromyographic processing block; • the kinematic calculation block; and, • the data visualisation block for use in the simulated games. The technology is developed at laboratory scale and a prototype is available for demonstration. A series of images of the device in operation are shown (Figure 2).

Partner Sought

Type of partner sought: Companies - Specific area of activity of the partner: smart textiles, wearable systems, rehabilitation systems, tele-rehabilitation and home rehabilitation. * In the license agreement: to buy a license for the technology, to produce a commercial prototype and make its validation with a higher number of users, and to introduce it into the market. * In the technical cooperation agreement: to provide their expertise in order to collaborate with the scientists to develop new applications. The company should identify technical requirements and/or market and client’s needs in order to carry out further technical development so that the market readiness will be increased and the technology could be commercially exploited.