More than 12 million people suffer a stroke every year. It is estimated that about a quarter of all people will have a stroke in their lifetime. The cases and consequences of a stroke are very different: cases vary by severity, type, co-morbidities, complications, age of the patient, level of impairment of health and other signs. After stabilization of the human condition, rehabilitation is started, which, depending on the level of damage, can be a long-lasting and expensive process. Therefore, optimising rehabilitation by giving doctors, nurses and patients access to modern smart tools, increasing patient inclusion can help improve rehabilitation outcomes and reduce the human resources and financial costs required for nursing.
To solve the needs and problems of post-stroke rehabilitation, during the implementation of the project it is planned to develop new tools and technologies that, integrated into clinical practice, could significantly increase the effectiveness of post-stroke rehabilitation, thus leading to better solutions for patients:
• post-stroke rehabilitation course objectification system for physiotherapeutic free-hanging equipment and related solutions for post-stroke rehabilitation
• hip exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of walking in patients with hemiparesis
Project funding:
This research project is funded by the European Union Funds for the period 2021-2027 under the Measure No. 05-001-01-05-07 “Establishing a coherent system for the promotion of innovative activities” under the activity “Stimulating the supply of innovations” under the action “Investing in activities for the development of new high value added products and enabling researchers to participate in R&D activities of enterprises, promotion of intellectual property, early pilot production of new products being developed and preparation for the market” (region of Central and Western Lithuania)”
Project results:
• The system of objectification of the course of post-stroke rehabilitation for physiotherapeutic free hanging equipment (KTU’s main contribution) and related solutions of post-stroke rehabilitation. The system will consist of free hanging belts, a sensor system, data transmission, analytics and an IT system that ensures user interface and feedback. The system will ensure: an objective assessment of the results of physiotherapeutic testing; monitoring the course of rehabilitation exercises; providing feedback to the rehabilitator; assistance in self-performing rehabilitation exercises.
• Hip joint exoskeleton (the main contribution of the project promoter) for the rehabilitation of walking in patients with hemiparesis (weakness of one side of the body). For the solution of motor disorders caused by hemiparesis, an autonomous motorized hip exoskeleton will be used, which helps the affected hip (providing additional torque) to accelerate the movement of the leg during the peak phase and thereby prolong the length of the step, thereby compensating for the weakness of the hemiparetic side and balancing the gait.
Period of project implementation: 2024-07-01 - 2026-07-01
Project coordinator: GRUPPO FOS LITHUNIA, UAB
Project partners: Kaunas University of Technology
