Robotics at the rehabilitation service
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Robotics at the rehabilitation serviceSee all Off-the-Shelf Solutions Heaxel, Italian company based in Rome and founded in 2018, designs and develops innovative medical devices for robot-mediated rehabilitation. The company’s mission is to improve the quality of life of patients by providing new medical devices based on the latest clinical evidence, and to support doctors and therapists in providing intensive rehabilitation to neurological patients. Heaxel’s first product is icons®, an innovative intelligent robotic system to support neurorehabilitation therapies, designed for patients with neurological damage. These are people who have a functioning musculoskeletal system, but are unable to properly manage one or more limbs due to an injury to the brain, such as those caused by a stroke. The robot is equipped with a handle to which the patient is connected, while the movements to be performed are shown on the video, in the form of interactive games (exergames).
The choice of sensor icons Given the importance of the interaction between the patient and the robot, under development, Heaxel needed to use a sensitive element to measure movements and forces. After a careful analysis of the main offerings with one of our distributors, the Heaxel engineering team decided to rely on OnRobot and the HEX-E sensor. “In robotic rehabilitation it is essential to guarantee a high level of safety: this is ensured by measuring with high accuracy the force, in intensity and direction, that is exchanged between the robot and the patient to whom the rehabilitation therapy is administered.” underlines Jacopo Tosi, Biomedical Engineer and R&D Manager of Heaxel. “The OnRobot sensor responded best to our process measurement, control and safety needs.”
The integration of HEX-E within icons In detail, the OnRobot HEX-E sensor provides accurate force and torque measurements along all 6 axes, integrates perfectly into any type of robotic application and ensures precise movement control. “We chose the OnRobot sensor for its simplicity of connection during the data acquisition phase, a key element in the application of icons, and for its reduced need for maintenance guaranteed by the optical sensitive technology, which allows us to focus on the our core business without risk, ” says Iacopo Portaccio, Biomedical Engineer and Production Manager at Heaxel. Heaxel has equipped a HEX-E sensor in each icon system to measure the interaction forces when the robot is used by the patient during a rehabilitation session. icons® is the first robotic tool in the world in the hands of professionals in the rehabilitation sector certified to work even outside the hospital, allowing the implementation of the “Continuum of Care” paradigm, in which intensive rehabilitation therapy can continue after discharge from Hospital. They are already present in some Italian and European hospitals, and thanks to its FDA registration it will soon become available on US and Asian markets. |
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Robotics at the rehabilitation service
Heaxel, Italian company based in Rome and founded in 2018, designs and develops innovative medical devices for robot-mediated rehabilitation. The company’s mission is to improve the quality of life of patients by providing new medical devices based on the latest clinical evidence, and to support doctors and therapists in providing intensive rehabilitation to neurological patients.
Heaxel’s first product is icons®, an innovative intelligent robotic system to support neurorehabilitation therapies, designed for patients with neurological damage. These are people who have a functioning musculoskeletal system, but are unable to properly manage one or more limbs due to an injury to the brain, such as those caused by a stroke. The robot is equipped with a handle to which the patient is connected, while the movements to be performed are shown on the video, in the form of interactive games (exergames).
The choice of sensor icons
Given the importance of the interaction between the patient and the robot, under development, Heaxel needed to use a sensitive element to measure movements and forces. After a careful analysis of the main offerings with one of our distributors, the Heaxel engineering team decided to rely on OnRobot and the HEX-E sensor.
“In robotic rehabilitation it is essential to guarantee a high level of safety: this is ensured by measuring with high accuracy the force, in intensity and direction, that is exchanged between the robot and the patient to whom the rehabilitation therapy is administered.” underlines Jacopo Tosi, Biomedical Engineer and R&D Manager of Heaxel. “The OnRobot sensor responded best to our process measurement, control and safety needs.”
The integration of HEX-E within icons
In detail, the OnRobot HEX-E sensor provides accurate force and torque measurements along all 6 axes, integrates perfectly into any type of robotic application and ensures precise movement control.
“We chose the OnRobot sensor for its simplicity of connection during the data acquisition phase, a key element in the application of icons, and for its reduced need for maintenance guaranteed by the optical sensitive technology, which allows us to focus on the our core business without risk, ” says Iacopo Portaccio, Biomedical Engineer and Production Manager at Heaxel.
Heaxel has equipped a HEX-E sensor in each icon system to measure the interaction forces when the robot is used by the patient during a rehabilitation session.
icons® is the first robotic tool in the world in the hands of professionals in the rehabilitation sector certified to work even outside the hospital, allowing the implementation of the “Continuum of Care” paradigm, in which intensive rehabilitation therapy can continue after discharge from Hospital. They are already present in some Italian and European hospitals, and thanks to its FDA registration it will soon become available on US and Asian markets.
