HERAX

Project description

Patients that suffer from either a workplace accident or a stroke sustain a restriction of motion of their hand. The sinews and tendon sheaths grow together if the fingers are not moved enough, which causes the fingers to stiffen. This is the reason why it is so important that the patients are able to gain back their control over their hand. This can be achieved by an assisted and proactive therapy. The assisted and proactive therapy is the only way to assure that the patient can go back to his everyday life. For patients who suffered a workplace injury an intensive kinesiotherapy (movement therapy) usually leads to way better results This treatment also improves the keloid (scar formation), the bone healing and the joint healing while the pain is being reduced. Due to the mismatch in therapeutic possibilities and work-intensive rehabilitation, the results of those treatments are getting worse. Because of this, patients have to live with restrictions in their jobs and their daily life. For some of them this lack of therapeutic possibilities even means early retirement which has far- reaching sociological and economic consequences. Another problem that hinders the rehabilitation is the following: How is the patient supposed to get to his therapist without a working hand? The concept of rehabilitation robotics isn't new and has been used in the kinesiotherapy (motion therapy) of shoulder and knee joints as well as in the neurology and in emergency surgery for quite some time now. The costs are mostly reimbursed by the health insurance.

Issue addressed by the project

Solution(s) brought by the project

Project need(s)

• Mentoring/Parrainage (présenter le projet à des experts / entreprises)
• Partenaires/Associés (compétences recherchées)
• Financement