Providing a new home-based robotic device to stroke patients to facilitate rehabilitation training at home

The first 3 to 6 months after stroke onset is taken as the “Golden Recovery Period” for stroke patients. However, most patients face difficulties getting access to affordable rehabilitation training after hospital discharge and within the period, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic when non-emergency public healthcare services were suspended for a long period.

Riding on the success of the start-up project supported by the SIE Fund in 2018, the project team launches a new “Home Edition” robotic device to provide more affordable, frequent and easy-to-administer rehabilitation training at home for stroke patients.

The device consists of a robotic glove, which assists the movement of fingers, and a wireless remote-control device, which manoeuvres the robotic glove’s movements. A mobile app will be developed to record patients’ training duration and tasks performed for physiotherapists to track the training progress. The device could also serve as an assistive device that enables patients to perform daily tasks more easily.

The venture also plans to partner with non-governmental organisations or hospitals to donate devices through direct donation, giveaway campaigns and sponsorship for rental programmes to benefit stroke patients from low-income families.