23.12.2020. At IUVO labs, the R&D team is working on the design and development of a fully portable and extremely lightweight shoulder-elbow exoskeleton to support the upper limb movements in post-stroke patients with mild to moderate hemiparesis. This is a very relevant step towards the creation of a hybrid robotic platform, integrating functional electrical stimulation and virtual/augmented reality tools, to effectively implement rehabilitation protocols and daily-life assistance.
Employing a user-centered approach, the design of the alpha-prototype of the ReHyb exoskeleton is currently ongoing. A team of bio- and mechanical engineers conceptualized and quickly assembled a representative mock-up that could be worn and tested by themselves in order to identify and overcome all possible barriers to the usability and to the final user acceptance at early stages. All the collected feedback will be precious input for the designers during the development phase that runs parallel to theoretical analysis and simulations. From the very beginning, a great deal of attention on the real user!
