RehabCoach 2 – Scaling up unsupervised rehabilitation by combining robotics and LLM-powered conversational agents
We are happy to announce that RehabCoach 2 is funded by Suva, a strategic partner of the Competence Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Science within the framework of ETH’s Rehab Initiative.
Upper limb sensorimotor impairments are common after neurological or accident-related trauma and can severely affect quality of life. Rehabilitation can improve this; however, the dose of therapy patients receive after an injury is often limited due to costs and available clinical resources. Unsupervised technology-supported rehabilitation, in the sense of easy to use and engaging technologies that could be used independently, is a promising approach to address this gap and support quality rehabilitation along the continuum of care, from the clinic to the home of patients.
In the present project, we propose to scale up and further validate the RehabCoach platform, i.e., the combination of an easy-to-use rehabilitation robot training upper limb function and a digital coaching mobile application to motivate patients and assist them in engaging in self-directed therapy.
“The RehabCoach platform was already tested in a few stroke patients with promising results on usability and acceptance.”
Prof. Olivier Lambercy
Professor Olivier Lambercy states the following about the project’s objectives: “The RehabCoach platform was already tested in a few stroke patients with promising results on usability and acceptance. We will now explore how to extend this to trauma patients and evaluate its effect during a longer intervention directly at the patients’ home. We will additionally perform a detailed economic analysis of this therapy concept to initiate discussions with the relevant stakeholders regarding the reimbursement of this therapy concept.”
As a tight collaboration between the Rehaklinik Bellikon (Suva clinic), the Clinica Hildebrand in Brissago, and the Center for Digital Health Interventions (Prof. Kowatsch), this project brings together interdisciplinary experts in rehabilitation. It will serve as a first proof-of-concept towards the broader implementation of novel, technology-based rehabilitation solutions within the Swiss healthcare system, potentially making these new approaches more accessible to patients.
Please find more information on our RehabCoach project page.
