Project R-9322

Title

Innovation and Implementation Accelerator for Complex Rehabilitation Technology (Research)

Abstract

i2-CoRT brings together state-of-the-art knowledge & experience of rehabilitation centres, knowledge centres, (SME) businesses, healthcare sector organizations and patients (organizations) in order to promote and accelerate rehabilitation technology innovation and implementation. I2-CoRT deals with the following challenge. Rehabilitation care is under great pressure because of aging of the population and the increase in illness-related healthcare costs. Solutions are sought through improvement of the (cost-) effectiveness of treatments. This can be achieved by e.g. the use of new technologies in rehabilitation treatment, like robotics, sensors, new materials and new production processes for tools & etc. Aims are: a) to increase therapy provision and to make therapy more attractive, b) to increase training time & intensity for patients, c) to increase the contact time between patient-practitioner, d) to improve results from treatments and assessments. Companies often contact rehabilitation centres to ask for help to develop their technological products, to test them, to buy them or to prescribe them to clients. The range of novel technologies (to be developed) is wide. The potential added-value for rehabilitation treatment is high and challenging. However, the innovation and implementation of new rehabilitation technology is (too) slow. i2-CoRT involves 2 clearly related routes, namely a) a procedural & infrastructural route (i.e. the development of 3 clinical testing centres in the vicinity of rehabilitation centres with a network of cooperating knowledge institutes and companies) and b) a concrete product-oriented route (in this case 5 so called innovation 'model projects' in which concrete RT innovation ideas are elaborated and which will serve as examples to test and improve the procedures from route a). The i2-CoRT project encompasses 20 work packages. UHasselt-EDM leads the workpackage on "The development of sensor-based technology for identification and assessment of arm-hand skill performance and to objectively measure the quality of arm-hand skill performance" and has another major contribution in the workpackage on "The development of a new dexterous robot concept with which so-called client-centred, taskoriented arm-hand training". Furthermore, UHasselt-EDM contributes to the Standard Operating Procedures for a User Experience perspective, and is involved in other workpackages.

Period of project

01 May 2018 - 30 April 2021