Post-stroke walking rehabilitation at home
About
SwitHome is a solution to let post-stroke patients undergo rehabilitation at home. While patients do exercises to improve their balance and gait, the system gives them real-time feedback and provides their therapist with progress monitoring. By allowing for some rehab sessions to take place at home, the solution reduces the therapist’s workload and saves money.
Origins
The global incidence of stroke is set to increase 50%, to 23 million annually, by 2030, according to The Helsingborg Declaration 2006 on European stroke strategies. Of the 12 million new stroke survivors every year, research shows two out of three experience impaired walking ability, resulting in a high risk of falling, reduced quality of life and social isolation. Our innovation includes insoles to assist in rehabilitation and improve the current, inefficient practice.
Team
SwitHome counts on a multidisciplinary team composed of experts in key areas, such as physical medicine and rehabilitation, balance and gait, stretchable electronics, project technologies (hardware and software), end-user testing, medical product design, business development, and technology transfer.
The project
SwitHome is a new solution that employs an innovative pressure-mapping insole, a tablet application and a patient-therapist communication web platform to extend the rehab centre to the homes of post-stroke patients. The system allows physical therapists to work remotely as they coach post-stroke patients and improve their gait. It reduces time engagement from the therapist, who can work more efficiently – simply reviewing feedback indicators on the patient’s gait at each iteration and defining new exercise settings.
By allowing for some home sessions to complement face-to-face physical therapy, the solution decreases the burden associated with the patient’s commute to the rehab centre while it reduces costs. SwitHome also lets patients self-manage their rehabilitation, and it motivates them to improve because they share their progress with their caregivers, who can give helpful feedback.
EIT Health supports SwitHome by enabling the team to capitalise on research results – linking academia and small and large companies and creating a unique opportunity to close the gap in the last stage of the product’s creation.
Impact
Patients benefit from reduced costs, the convenience of undergoing therapy at home, instant feedback and the ability to manage their own rehab. Busy rehabilitation centres benefit from a solution that can be used for many patients, as well as increased data on patient progress. Payers benefit from the solution because it saves costs, facilitates treatment of a greater number of patients and allows better, data-based monitoring of therapy.
Why this is an EIT Health project
SwitHome is an important solution to the problem of strokes, which are becoming more common due in part to our ageing demographic – one of the key challenges EIT Health seeks to address. The project is also a perfect fit for the EIT Health Focus Area of “Bringing Care Home” as it allows post-stroke patients to do more of their therapy at home.
External Partners
- Soft Bionics Lda
- SWORD Health
Partners
CLC/InnoStars: InnoStars
Partner classification: Tech Transfer, Clusters, Other NGOs
Partner type: Associate Partner
The Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) is a non-profit private organization, which promotes innovation and the transfer of technology, establishing the interface between the scientific and technological environment and the production sector. Created in 1991 through an initiative of the University of Coimbra, IPN has currently a team of almost 100 permanent staff to support start-ups and researchers in these activities. With a self-sustained business model that gives the flexibility and capacity to accompany business sector needs, IPN operates in three complementary areas: Highly specialized training, Research and technological development, and Incubation and acceleration of technology-based enterprises. In terms of applied research and technological development, IPN’s technological infrastructure includes a set of six laboratories in diversified technological areas which, along with its established connections with higher education institutions, R&TD organizations and both national and international companies, place IPN in a privileged position for jointly conducting R&TD activities with enterprises. As for the incubation and acceleration of technology-based enterprises, IPN assists start-ups with technical guidance in the establishment and early stages of business development, tutorial follow-up for developing business plans, support for attracting investment and securing funding, intellectual property and legal assistance (e.g. technology transfer contracts and the registration of patents or brands), access to and contact with various national and international research centres, knowledge institutions and sources of funding.
Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN)
Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), R. Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
Med Tech, ICT, Imaging
Key Activities in Business Creation
Incubation, Technology Transfer, Business coaching, Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training
CLC/InnoStars: Spain
Partner classification: Research, Hospital / University Hospital
Partner type: Associate Partner
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu includes a General Hospital and a Large Network of Mental Health Services. It focuses on bringing together basic research scientists and research clinicians mainly in the areas of public health, mental disorders, ageing and disability.
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu (PSSJD)
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu (PSSJD), Carrer del Doctor Antoni Pujadas, 42, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision, Payers
Key Activities in Business Creation
Testing & Validation
Key Activities in Education
Medical faculties, Healthcare professional education/training
CLC/InnoStars: Belgium-Netherlands
Partner classification: Business, Education, Hospital / University Hospital
Partner type: Associate Partner
The UMCG is a large university medical center focused on patient care, education, research and innovation aiming at societal impact and economic growth. The UMCG focuses on healthy ageing in all priority areas: research, clinical care and education.
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands
CLC/InnoStars: InnoStars
Partner classification: Education
Partner type: Core Partner
University of Coimbra (UC) is a reference in higher education and R&D in Portugal, due to the quality of the courses taught at its eight colleges and to the advances achieved in pure and applied research in various scientific domains and on technology related areas. The offer in technological research makes UC an undeniable reference in R&D in Portugal, which highlights the excellence of work developed by the R&D units of UC, namely in the fields of life sciences. UC offers advanced entrepreneurship education trainings programs in different areas that bind to technology, where it was considered by EC as one of the 20 most inspiring cases in Europe. UC stands out also on technology transfer being involved in the promotion of several successful initiatives, like IPN Incubator, TECBis- Business accelerator unit, Biocant, and in the creation of more than 200 technological spin-offs, the majority of them healthcare related businessess. UC U-Multirank scored “very good” (the maximum classification) on Research, Technology Transfer and Internationalisation.
Key Activities in Corporate Innovation
Pharma, Med Tech, ICT, Diagnostics, Imaging
Key Activities in Social Innovation
Healthcare provision
Key Activities in Business Creation
Incubation, Technology Transfer, Business coaching
Key Activities in Education
Entrepreneurship training
| Executive Director | Instituto Pedro Nunes
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