T-Chair II – Assistive therapy concept for trunk balance & stability after stroke
At a glance
- Project leader : Prof. Dr. Jürg Meier, Susanne Schütz
- Deputy of project leader : Prof. Dr. Daniel Baumgartner
- Project team : Dr. Christoph Bauer, Prof. Dr. Irina Nast, Leah Reicherzer, Mandy Scheermesser, Dominik Textor, Michaela Wenger
- Project status : completed
- Funding partner : EU and other international programmes (Eurostars / Projekt Nr. 11323)
- Project partner : Stiftung Kliniken Valens, NiniX Technologies, rotavis AG, KU Leuven, studiocolony GmbH
- Contact person : Daniel Baumgartner
Description
Trunk control is a key factor for a successful rehabilitation outcome early after stroke. Training must start early after stroke in sitting as trunk control is essential for standing and walking. A robot assisted medical chair enables therapies at various levels of trunk-control impairment. The need for such a robot assisted therapeutic chair (T-CHAIR) was identified in focus groups with various experts in stroke rehabilitation across Europe. A first prototype was developed during a project funded by the Swiss Innosuisse Agency and tested, following a user centred design approach, for its usability in a Swiss Rehabilitation clinic with physiotherapists and patients early after stroke. This project resulted in a list of requirements for a future prototype. These requirements are addressed in a follow up project with partners from Switzerland and Belgium, which receives funding from the EUs Eurostars agency. During this project, a next prototype generation has been developed and tested for its usability and effect on trunk control in patients after stroke. A significant effect has been shown with regard to clinical outcome measures by performing trunk training on the T-CHAIR.