PFI-TT: A robotic device for the physical therapy of wrist/hand function

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是推动一种机器人医疗设备的发展并将其商业化，该设备旨在对受损的手腕/手功能进行物理康复。这项技术解决了中风或脊髓损伤患者的未得到满足的医疗需求，这些患者经常有手功能受损，这干扰了许多日常生活活动，如进食，但也对他们的专业工作产生了负面影响(例如，无法使用计算机键盘)。为临床提供客观的运动功能诊断指标，指导治疗。此外，该设备还促进了以患者为中心的定制物理治疗，允许根据患者的当前状态量身定做体育锻炼，并随后根据患者的治疗进展调整这些锻炼，潜在地使患者能够进行更长时间和更严格的训练。额外的实践将导致更高水平的功能独立性或在有偿护理时间内更快地恢复，从而降低每名患者的总医疗费用。目前，市场上还没有成熟的竞争技术。初步的市场分析显示，医疗康复设备市场具有很高的商业潜力。拟议的项目采取了必要的步骤来推进这项机器人技术的商业化。其目标是直接回应已确定的客户需求。开发解决了以下关键技术障碍：1)减少设备的占地面积，使其具有移动性。该团队将重新设计围栏，并建立一个可以在护理环境内和之间轻松移动的系统。2)团队将简化控制软件的用户界面，使治疗师无需广泛的技术培训即可轻松访问和操作。3)治疗师和康复经理希望自动生成结果报告，以减轻治疗师的报销文件负担。该团队将设计软件，记录和分析来自机器人传感器的信号，以生成运动性能的客观标记，这些标记可以包括在治疗进展的数字报告中。4)目前康复机器人中实施的康复练习大多是单调、重复的练习，往往会导致脱离接触。作为回应，该团队将基于统一编程语言设计新的游戏化身体康复练习，该语言是计算机游戏行业的标准。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to advance and commercialize a robotic medical device designed for the physical rehabilitation of impaired wrist/hand function. This technology addresses an unmet medical need for patients with stroke or spinal cord injury who frequently have impaired hand function that interferes with many activities of daily life such as feeding, but also negatively affects their professional work (e.g. inability to use a computer keyboard). It provides objective diagnostic markers on motor function that can guide therapy. In addition, the device promotes a patient-centered, customized physical therapy that allows tailoring physical exercises to the current state of the patient, and subsequently to adjust these exercises to the patient's therapeutic progress, potentially enabling patients to train longer and more rigorously. Extra practice will either lead to higher levels of functional independence or faster recovery within the reimbursable care time leading to reduced total health care costs per patient. At present, there is no mature competing technology on the market. A preliminary market analysis shows a high commercial potential in the market for medical rehabilitation devices. The proposed project takes the necessary steps to advance the commercialization of this robotic technology. Its aims respond directly to identified customer needs. Development addresses the following key technological hurdles: 1) Reduce the footprint of the device and make it mobile. The team will redesign the encasement and build a system that can be moved easily within and between care environments. 2) The team will simplify the user interface of the control software to enable easy access and operation for therapists without an extensive technical training. 3) Therapists and rehabilitation managers desire automated outcome reports to reduce the reimbursement documentation burden for therapists. The team will design software that records and analyzes the signals from the robotic sensors to generate objective markers of motor performance that can be included in a digital report of therapeutic progress. 4) Most of the rehabilitation exercises currently implemented in rehabilitation robots are largely monotonous, repetitive exercises that often lead to disengagement. In response, the team will design new gamified physical rehabilitation exercises based on the Unity programming language, which is the standard in the computer gaming industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.