Page 16 - Mobility Management, March 2020

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ROBOTICS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT CRT IN A BIG WAY. HOW ARE STARTUPS AND RESEARCHERS TACKLING THE COMPLICATED LANDSCAPE?
By Haley Samsel
When Dan Ding first started as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh in 2001,
she had never heard the term “rehabilitation robotics.” She attended robotics conferences while earning her Ph.D. in Hong Kong, but rarely saw sessions on healthcare applications, much less the type of work that would soon change the complex rehab technology (CRT) industry.
“I don’t think at the time the term was coined,”
Ding, now an associate professor in the university’s Department of
Rehabilitation Science and Technology, told Mobility Management. “I definitely witnessed the whole growth of this technology’s involvement in rehabilitation and assistive technology, so I feel very fortunate that, before that happened, I was able to get into this field.”
Ding’s early experiences are a far cry from the landscape of robotics in complex rehab today, where new startups have introduced technology ranging from eye-gaze wheelchair controls to blind-spot sensors that can be mounted on several parts of
a power chair. Large manufacturers are following suit by integrating new develop- ments, such as patient monitoring technology, into their seat cushions and chairs.
While there is a sense of unlimited possibilities for the applications of robotic technology, experts in the field say there are also immense challenges facing the industry, particularly in terms of the high costs for patients seeking the latest equipment and the regulatory hurdles for CRT companies trying to bring innova- tive products to market.
For Pooja Viswanathan, the CEO and founder of the Toronto-based blind-spot sensor manufacturer Braze Mobility, the CRT industry is just “skimming the surface” of what’s possible in terms of finding solutions for patients.
“I think there’s tremendous opportunity for growth as long as it’s
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