Innovations and Products

Clever ideas for helping people

Through commercialization, Toronto Rehab turns bright ideas into products that help people living with disabling injury and illness or age-related conditions.  We are well-positioned to do this. Our researchers work alongside clinicians and patients, and interact frequently with the private sector.

Our busy labs and workshops are helping to feed a pipeline of new commercial products, including patient lifting devices and an array of rehabilitation and home care tools. Many significant products are now reaching the market―or will do so very soon.
 
Some examples:

SoleSensor™ 

Roughly one in three people aged 65 or older falls at least once a year. These falls result in the vast majority of hip fractures, which are a leading cause of death and disability among older people. Some falls are related to something that happens with age: a loss of sensation in the soles of the feet that can throw people off balance. A special new footwear insole called SoleSensor ™is designed to enhance balance by heightening sole sensation. The SoleSensor has a raised ridge that surrounds the perimeter of the foot, stopping just short of the large toe, to increase “sensory perception”.   

“If you’re swaying back and forth, the raised edge will apply pressure to the side of your foot, telling you subconsciously that you’re falling so that you can adjust your body movements,” says Dr. Stephen Perry, a Toronto Rehab adjunct scientist based at Wilfrid Laurier University. Published research shows that older adults who wore the SoleSensor in winter had half the number of falls. Now on the market, the SoleSensor grew out of Dr. Perry’s PhD thesis. Co-inventors are Dr. Brian Maki of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Toronto Rehab senior scientists Drs. William McIlroy and Geoff Fernie.


For more on SoleSensor, www.ajhartgroup.com
 

HandyAudit™

Toronto Rehab scientists have developed an easy-to-use electronic tool that healthcare facilities can use to help prevent the spread of potentially deadly hospital-acquired infections. Every year in Canada, about 8,000 patients die from infections they acquire while in hospital. Toronto Rehab’s HandyAudit™ system helps hand hygiene auditors efficiently monitor and report hand hygiene compliance rates.

The current paper-based observation system requires one auditor to simultaneously monitor the hand washing practices of four healthcare workers at once, and to record each of their hand washing actions. This can be a complicated task, and relies on subjective judgments. “The potential for error is high,” says Dr. Geoff Fernie, one of the scientists who developed the new tool. With HandyAudit, auditors can use touch screen technology to simply input actions into a personal digital assistant (PDA). Software analyzes these actions and calculates compliance rates. 

HandyAudit brochure
For more on HandyAudit, www.handyaudit.com
 

An intelligent emergency response and fall detection system

Toronto Rehab scientist Dr. Alex Mihailidis and colleagues at Toronto Rehab and the University of Toronto have developed a high-tech emergency response and fall detection system. The technology is designed to help older adults live longer and more safely at home, while easing the concerns of family and friends.

Now at the final stage of development, the system is awaiting an industrial partner to commercialize it. At a cost of about $100, it includes a simple camera mounted on the ceiling in the user’s home that wirelessly relays images to a computer. The system uses artificial intelligence to “learn” and track the actions and patterns of the user. If the system senses that the user has fallen or stopped moving, it automatically calls out a series of questions with yes/no answers. If the person says that help is needed or no response is heard, the system can alert relatives or dial an emergency number.

Falls are the most common cause of injury for the elderly, and one-third of older adults fall every year, according to Dr. Mihailidis.
 

SensiMat

It’s hard to believe sitting can be hazardous to your health. But as wheelchair users know, pressure sores can be caused by sitting improperly or forgetting to regularly change position. These sores can have serious, even fatal, consequences. “Many wheelchair users have them, and some get sores more frequently than others,” says Dr. Milos R. Popovic, a Toronto Rehab senior scientist, adding that treatment and hospitalization for one pressure sore can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Dr. Popovic has come up with a high-tech, low-cost way to prevent these sores. It’s called SensiMat. Developed in collaboration with Elmedex, a Toronto-based company, SensiMat is a thin cushion that goes underneath the wheelchair cushion. Sensors inside can detect if pressure is building.

“If the person is not sitting properly or forgets to regularly rearrange their sitting position, the system tells them,” Dr. Popovic explains. “It can do this in several ways, such as calling their cell phone to say: “This is your behind calling. I’m sorry, but you’re not sitting properly,’”.  The team is seeking funding to conduct clinical trials.

For more on SensiMat, www.elmedex.com

Robotic arm for stroke therapy

A robotic device to help stroke patients rebuild upper-body strength is being developed by scientist Dr. Alex Mihailidis and others at Toronto Rehab and the University of Toronto in collaboration with Quanser Inc.  Stroke patients require extensive practice and assistance to regain motor skills, and therapists spend a lot of time guiding patients through exercises. Using the new robotic device, patients will be able to do these exercises unsupervised at any time of day. The device uses haptic technology so users actually “feel” resistance when they push on a robotic arm. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the system also adapts to users’ needs, adjusting exercises when necessary. It will initially be used in a rehabilitation setting, but will eventually be available for home use.

Because the robot is small and easy to operate, people can use it on their own almost anywhere – at home, by the bedside while in hospital – and at any time. The idea is to encourage them to exercise more often. Studies involving people who have had strokes suggest that the more intensity, the better the outcome.
 

RoboNurse

Toronto Rehab scientists are part of a Canadian government-sponsored joint venture with China to produce a sophisticated patient lifting robot, known as RoboNurse. The ride-on machine is designed to take a load off the backs of caregivers who are dealing with a growing population of obese patients. Guided by a trained nurse, the robot can lift very heavy patients out of bed and move them to a chair or down the hall for tests.

A prototype of the robot was developed and tested at Toronto Rehab. Now, with matching grants of $1-million from the Canadian and Chinese governments, the institution has teamed up with Canadian and Chinese manufacturers to bring the ambitious concept to fruition. The goal is to produce a device that could one day become ubiquitous in healthcare facilities and homes around the world―a market potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the deal, the Canadian partners will get the European and North American markets, while the Chinese will get the Asian markets.

“We are able to succeed by combining the advantages of both countries, and potentially, by combining the markets in China and Canada,” says Dr. Geoff Fernie, vice president, research, at Toronto Rehab.  “Our strategy is to do the development and engineering in Ontario and to own the technology. Then, to remain competitive, we’ll do some selected manufacturing through our own network in China.  Wherever possible, we will manufacture components and systems using highly automated low-cost manufacturing methods in Canada.”