IIT-M and CMC collaborate to develop medical innovation using robotics

The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) will be collaborating with Motion Technology Firm Portescap to develop medical innovation using robotics for rehabilitation, which is a CSR project involving the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore.

The project, which is facilitated by the Office of Institutional Advancement, IIT-M, will focus on creating an innovative rehabilitation robot – AREBO (Arm Rehabilitation Robot) – for people with arm impairments.

AREBO is a six-degrees-of-freedom robot for training individual joint movements at the shoulder and elbow for persons with neurological and musculoskeletal conditions such as stroke, arthritis, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson’s disease, among others, the IIT-M said.

The design of this robot allows it to be easily connected to either the left or right arm of a user, and provides safe training of the arm, the institute added.

The project is led by Prof. Sujatha Srinivasan, faculty head, TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2), IIT-M, and Prof. Sivakumar Balasubramanian, CMC, Vellore.

The IIT-M said such innovations will not just significantly improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities, but also serve as a tool for therapists to remotely monitor performance and plan therapy accordingly.

“The project leverages the strengths of R2D2 in developing and taking to market, functional and affordable devices for movement disability, while also drawing from the bioengineering and clinical expertise of CMC. Research and Development costs covered through CSR support are crucial to achieve the eventual goal of taking high-quality devices to the market at affordable prices,” Prof. Srinivasan said.

Prof. Balasubramanian said AREBO is the result of the approach towards simplifying rehabilitation robots, which is necessary for routine clinical use.

“We expect to have a simple, compact, easy-to-use, and safe robot ready for large-scale clinical trials through this collaboration. Bringing this device to the market will require understanding as to how this device fits into routine clinical practice and its added value to patients and clinicians,” he said.

As a second project, also funded by Portescap, IIT Madras has partnered with Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata, to develop a lower limb exoskeleton for ‘Gait Training’ of Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury patients and the design is in progress.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: