Post by Convergence Health & Technology

The numbers don’t lie: by 2040, a 50% increase in the number of stroke patients is expected, along with a 70% rise in Parkinson’s disease cases. At the same time, people are living longer with the consequences of illness. The pressure on rehabilitation care is increasing — but capacity and resources are not keeping pace. Within the Convergence Health & Technology Flagship project Human Mobility Center, a team of researchers led by Gerard Ribbers (Erasmus MC), Laura Marchal-Crespo (TU Delft), Jane Murray Cramm, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam and Rijndam Revalidatie Rehabilitation is therefore taking a different approach. They are developing smart, simple, and affordable solutions for home-based rehabilitation and remote monitoring, enabling a much larger group of people to access (rehabilitation) care in the future. The real breakthrough? Not more high-tech, but accessible and simple solutions that actually work in practice. This makes it possible to: -support more patients simultaneously -monitor recovery remotely -give people more control over their own rehabilitation -keep care both accessible and affordable Laura Marchal-Crespo, researcher TU Delft “The trend in rehabilitation technology is that it is becoming increasingly complex and advanced. That is precisely why I believe this flagship project is disruptive: by developing and deploying ultra-simple, low-cost technology.” It sounds logical, but in practice it is far from standard. That is exactly why this collaboration is so important: not only to develop technology, but to truly implement it in healthcare. Read the full story here: https://edu.nl/hudcy “To ensure that rehabilitation remains sustainable and affordable in the future, we need a vision that goes beyond a single rehabilitation clinic, hospital, or scientific discipline. It is a societal responsibility. This is the vision we can shape within this collaboration.” — Gerard Ribbers, Professor and Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus MC Richard Goossens TU Delft | Mechanical Engineering Luisa Sanchez Diez Maaike Kleinsmann Luna van den Bergh Maarten IJzerman Maarten Frens Annemieke Sterrenburg Maud Kok