Startup with rehab robot aims for next level with crowdfunding drive
- CR2-Haptic is geared toward those who've suffered stroke, worrying mind harm, and many others.
- Startup hopes crowdfunding will allow it to donate one unit, commercialise the gadget
MALAYSIAN startup TechCare Innovation Sdn Bhd hopes to take its rehabilitation robotics device from studies to the market with a pledge drive on pitchIN, the home equal of Kickstarter.
The agency’s Compact Rehabilitation Robot (CR2) is a sequence of robotics systems developed for rehabilitation training, or basically as physiotherapy aids. TechCare itself is a by-product company from UTM (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia), where the system is being evolved.
Its today's iteration, CR2-Haptic, is aimed toward those who have suffered strokes, stressful brain accidents or other neurological problems resulting in hand and arm impairment. It is designed to educate forearm, wrist and basic ‘activity of daily dwelling’ (ADL) moves, according to TechCare Innovation.
It is one of 20 projects launched on the pitchIN crowdfunding platform as part of the official launch of the Malaysian Global Innovation Centre (MaGIC) in past due April, where even Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (p.c, a long way proper) had a move on the gadget.
The corporation has already met its first crowdfunding degree of RM5,000, having raised more RM12,000, with a view to allow it to donate the software program element – a Microsoft Kinect-based game – to a non-income rehabilitation centre operated by using the National Stroke Association of Malaysia (Nasam).
But TechCare Innovation is in the end aiming to get RM35,000 that might allow it to completely broaden the CR2-Haptic robotics gadget and deliver it to Nasam, and to additionally commercialise it and produce it to market. [RM1 = US$0.31]
“For the past 3 years, we have been focusing at the research and development of the rehabilitation robotic,” said Khor Kang Xiang, the center mechanical and electronics clothier at TechCare Innovation.
“However, we recognize that even with the high-quality studies outcome on the college, if we are able to’t deliver CR2-Haptic to marketplace for patients to use it, it makes no difference due to the fact they would now not have the ability enjoy the outcome on the stop of the day.
“Therefore, we hope to make this transformation and bring the research final results to [more] sufferers with the aid of commercialising the product,” he advised Digital News Asia (DNA) through e mail.
[UPDATE: CR2 changed into in the end the winner of MaGIC PitchIN challenge, collecting as much as RM27,599 from one hundred contributors. The agency said it'll quickly deliver a CR2-Motion machine to Nasam.]
Gamification for health
CR2-Haptic is a transportable and compact rehabilitation robotic which can be used to train sufferers’ muscle features at the same time as they play games. It lets in patients to train at home through integrating tele-tracking generation that enables therapists to display the sufferers' progress through the Internet.
This characteristic additionally permits therapists and circle of relatives contributors to without problems examine and overview the progress of the patient, in keeping with TechCare Innovation.
Using robotics in stroke and comparable rehabilitation is not new, with numerous different structures consisting of the In-Motion Arm and Reo-Go already in market, however which the Malaysian company says are too expensive and cumbersome for home use.
The idea in the back of CR2 got here to Dr Yeong Che Fai (percent), presently a senior lecturer at UTM and lead researcher and advertising strategist at TechCare Innovation, when pursuing his PhD on the Imperial College within the United Kingdom back in 2006-2010.
“I essentially built a rehab robotic which turned into examined in a UK medical institution. The remarks became fantastic and encouraging from both physiotherapists and patients, however nevertheless had masses of room for improvement.
“Thus, once I came lower back in 2010, I started out research here, but focusing extra on handing over a final product for patient use,” he advised DNA.
According to TechCare Innovation, one in six humans in the international have a risk of getting a stroke in their lifetime. In Malaysia, fifty two,000 people be afflicted by a stroke each yr, it said, citing reviews in English dailies The Star and The New Straits Times.
“I had continually been beneath the impact that stroke simplest happens many of the elderly, until a go to to one of the rehab centres in Malaysia,” said Khor.
“During my visit (to a Nasam centre in the state of Melaka), I noticed teens as young as me who had suffered from a stroke, and I should feel their ache … there was one younger man who changed into honestly dragging his leg along the way while he walked.
“I simplest then realised that strokes should affect every body of any age, at any time,” he introduced.
As he went to the field to investigate the problem, he got here throughout many sufferers in need of rehabilitation or physiotherapy.
“However, due to the big number of sufferers and lack of therapists, maximum of the time, patients don’t have the chance to get enough rehabilitation schooling for a right recovery.
“Generally, they need to be discharged once they're cellular, as standard hospitals want to address extra severe sufferers,” he stated.
Then Khor met Dr Yeong, who already had experience within the area of rehabilitation robotics, and realised he wanted to use his skills to develop something that could help the stroke community.
“So, it truly is how I commenced to get concerned with the group. From that, we commenced to build a rehabilitation robot with an intention to commercialising it sooner or later in order that patients can use it to improve their recuperation,” Khor brought.
Imagine success with Kinect
The CR2 idea additionally saw in addition validation inside the annual pupil era challenge organised with the aid of Microsoft Corp, the Imagine Cup. A crew Dr Yeong supervised and led with the aid of certainly one of his college students, Yong Bang Xiang, came in first within the Malaysian version of the worldwide opposition.
“Team CR2-Haptic won the Games Category of the Imagine Cup 2014 with its Kinect-based totally virtual truth recreation, Durian Runtuh, which assists stroke patients in rehabilitation,” stated Dinesh Nair (%), Developer Evangelism and Experience (DX) lead for Microsoft Malaysia.
“It’s outstanding to peer them make bigger their ideas to construct a compact rehabilitation robotic, and really thrilling that they’ve managed to raise over RM12,000 for it,” he delivered.
Dinesh additionally mentioned that every other institution of students from UTM, Team Mini-Heartcatcher, which gained the Innovation Category of Imagine Cup 2014 with a transportable device and a Windows Phone 8 app to seize electrocardiographs (ECGs) from cardiovascular sufferers, also succeeded in raising over RM5,000 from pitchinIN as nicely.
“We’re proud that each those teams have stepped forward closer to market validation in their thoughts and their apps, and are well at the way towards pleasurable their modern desires,” he stated.
“We’ll genuinely be concerned in supporting both groups through our developer programmes and hands-on-labs, as well as provide them startup benefits thru our BizSpark initiative or even help them thru the acceleration programmes we've got partnered with,” he delivered.
BizSpark helps software program startups by means of giving them get right of entry to to Microsoft software improvement equipment, connecting them with key industry gamers, consisting of investors, and supplying advertising visibility to help entrepreneurs beginning a enterprise.
TechCare Innovation’s Dr Yeong stated that the Imagine Cup revel in become very valuable to the group.
“During the 3-day opposition, the group needed to pitch to panels every day, where they were given remarks for development. So my students continued to enhance the sport.
“More importantly, Microsoft changed into there to assist technically. Thus, my college students received a splendid deal of technical expertise at some stage in that short, three-day duration,” Dr Yeong delivered.
Another initiative that has helped TechCare Innovation exceptionally is the second one Coach and Grow Programme (CGP2) organised by using Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, a Ministry of Finance employer, and run by using Proficeo Consultants.
TechCare Innovation enrolled in the programme on the end of 2013, which runs till the cease of 2015.
“The enjoy we’re getting from CGP2 is fantastic. We managed to learn quite a few commercial enterprise standards – most significantly, a way to execute them in practice inside our startup,” stated Dr Yeong.
“We also are very thankful to have experienced marketers, project capitalists and angel traders guiding us via the workshops, in addition to for the valuable face-to-face coaching periods.
“CGP2 has made a clearly large effect on our commercialisation adventure, and we are hoping extra entrepreneurs can gain from this programme within the future,” he brought.
To pitch in at TechCare Innovation’s crowdfunding drive, cross right here. For extra facts on CR2-Haptic, take a look at out the professional internet site or Facebook page, or click at the video beneath.
Tomorrow: Technical and commercialisation challenges, and what’s subsequent for TechCare Innovation
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