XoRehab is furnished with Surface Electromyography (EMG), which accurately showcases the muscle movement of the patient and also helps in during muscle recovery
Scholars at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIITB) have now finally unleashed the much-awaited Internet of Things (IoT) backed wheelchair, dubbed 'XoRehab'. The all-new wheelchair is expected to help stroke patients after surgery for rehabilitation. As per the spokesperson of the institute, the device was developed in Center for Internet of Ethical Things (CIET) at IIITB.
The CIET was formed in association with the World Economic Forum (WEF) with assistance from Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society (KITS) and sponsored by IT-BT Department of Government of Karnataka. According to an exclusive report by the Hindu, Madhav Rao, Associate Professor and CIET Convener, IIITB, said "Post-surgery, stroke patients need to undergo a lot of physiotherapy. However, validated physiotherapists are limited in hospitals. Once patients, especially those who come from rural areas, are discharged they have to come back all the way to big hospitals to undergo physiotherapy and this becomes a logistic hurdle for patients."
“One of the neurosurgeons at Nimhans suggested that we develop a portable device (for rehabilitation) that patients can take home for lease from the hospital and bring back, once they are better. Hence, we started developing this device," he added. The research work was going on for two years and it was successfully unveiled after testing it with people of various heights 4.8 to 5.8 feet and weight up to 75kg.
The XoRehab is an exoskeleton for rehabilitation with nine Degree of Freedom (DoF), which essentially means the allowed joint movement in upper and lower limb. “This is a home-based rehabilitation device, and it is not necessary to shift a person from one device to another between upper and lower limb rehabilitation. It involves the development of well-trained robots on electromechanical actuation,” the researchers told the Hindu.
The uniqueness of XoRehab is that it completely ward off the requirement of physical monitoring due to its IoT backed system. The wheelchair is also furnished with Surface Electromyography (EMG), which accurately showcases the muscle movement of the patient and also helps in during muscle recovery. There is also an emergency kill switch, which can stop the rehabilitation anytime and the device uses DC Motors that makes it completely safe. Currently, hospitals will have to purchase the device between Rs 85,000 to Rs 90,000 and then the patients can rent it at affordable cost.
