GENOVA (ITALPRESS) – Eleven clinical studies, professional figures trained ad hoc and a gym equipped with robotic technologies and advanced systems for movement analysis. It is the result reached at the AOM – IRCCS Hospital Policlinico San Martino di Genova with Fit for Medical Robotics (Fit4MedRob), a 48-month research initiative, funded by the Ministry of University and Research, under the National Complementary Plan (PNC) at the PNRR which aims to assess whether robotics can change the way of doing rehabilitation. The funds allocated to the AOM – IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino amounted to 1.3 million euros, a figure invested by the agency in design research activities and the implementation of the infrastructure necessary for experimentation. Fit4MedRob, coordinated by the National Research Council (CNR), involves a network of 25 partners between research centers, clinical structures and companies and the Foundation of the same name, which represents the management center of the research program at national level, also counts among its founding members the AOM – IRCCS Hospital Policlinico San Martino. Within the consortium, the body plays a clinical and research role, providing specialist skills, patients and environments dedicated to the evaluation of technologies and the realization of clinical studies.
The involvement of professionals with multidisciplinary skills in rehabilitative field is an integral part of the project activities and has allowed to strengthen the experienced already acquired in rehabilitation and management of fragile patients. “The gym combines different technologies, each designed to support specific phases of the rehabilitation path and to gather useful information to assess mobility – says prof. Angelo Schenone, Scientific Director f.f. of the IRCCCS Hospital Policlinico San Martino and scientific representative of the project for San Martino -. A robotic system allows to associate the verticalization of the patient with the rhythmic mobilization of the lower limbs, favoring the recovery of the movement already in the early stages of the path. The exoskeletals instead support the training of the path and the use of the upper limb, accompanying the movement during the exercises. Virtual reality-based technologies combined with interactive and customized motion detection systems and, last but not least, sensorized carpets allow to analyze the path through a precise measurement of step parameters.”.
“The new robotic gym of San Martino demonstrates how research, innovation and professional skills can work together to improve rehabilitation paths – says Massimo Nicolò, Councillor for the Health of Liguria Region -. We are talking about advanced technologies, from robotics to virtual reality, which allow you to study more and more personalized treatments and to measure patient progress more accurately. The challenge is to bring the results of research into clinical practice, putting innovation at the service of people and flanking, not replacing, the work of our professionals. The fact that 11 clinical studies are already active in San Martino within a national project such as Fit4MedRob confirms the value of our health even on the front of research and the ability to experiment new solutions for care and rehabilitation”.
– photo press office IRCCS Company Hospital Metropolitan – AOM –
(ITALPRESS).
