Create and evaluate a home-based device to improve compliance with therapeutic exercise that results in increased strength, control and ankle range of motion and ultimately gait.
Serve as a tracking system for compliance with use and therefore exercise and will also allow for quantitative evaluation of ankle range of motion, strength and control and will be designed to be fun and motivating for the child.
Cost efficient and should therefore be widely affordable and perhaps more cost effective than standard therapy. Overall treatment costs should ultimately be reduced, since the child’s physical therapist could work remotely with the child, monitoring progress and offering revised treatment protocols, resulting in fewer office visits.
The system will consist of a robotic device to direct the movement of the ankle along with a gaming interface that will run on low-cost commercially available hardware that is commonly available in the home.
We envision this system could become part of a daily routine and serve to improve current practice by increasing compliance with therapeutic home exercise.
Expected Deliverables
The expected outcome of this project is a compact and portable system for therapeutic home exercise for patients with CP. The system could be used as an adjunct to current physical therapy and could be commercialized and sold to families.
