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fitwheel

FitWheel

We will develop a sensor based exercise system to provide eccentric exercise to wheel chair patients

Funded by EYDE-ETAK (GR)
Τ1ΕΔΚ-05425

Project Overview

The general objective of the proposal is to develop a functional, “intelligent” and user- friendly lever-propelled exercise system, called FIT-WHEEL (Functional and Intelligent Training system for WHEELchair users), which can be adapted to wheelchairs available in the market and support the rehabilitation process on a personalized basis. FIT-WHEEL will be functional because it will be feasible to accommodate each person’s specific needs and be used at his own home environment. The proposed exercise system will be intelligent, because it will integrate video games in real-time while exercising (exergaming) and provide individual feedback via a smart phone/tablet application. FIT-WHEEL will emphasize eccentric exercise, during which muscles lengthen while under tension and offer advantages compared to conventional training, due to low-energy cost of force production and subsequent lower fatigue. Moreover, it will be novel and inexpensive, as it will use pneumatic resistance to actuate upper limbs’ rotational movement. Each lever will be actuated by a separate pneumatic device. By changing air pressure in the chamber, it will be possible to adapt the required resistance based on the specific needs of each patient. As a result, the users will be able to improve their strength, aerobic capacity and movement synergy between their upper limbs. The adoption of FIT-WHEEL by the medical community is expected to create a multifaceted impact on the economy and society as a whole. It is estimated that the overall financial cost for the health care system and the society could be decreased up to 15% each year, because FIT-WHEEL will help minimize hospitalization time, the need for continuous expert assistance and users can delay the transition to electric powered wheelchairs. Furthermore, the exploitation of the project’s results could improve competiveness of our country in the middle of the economic crisis, create job opportunities and provide indirect savings for the national economy by reduction of labour-related losses. Last but not least, by maintaining wheelchair users’ mobility and physical condition, FIT-WHEEL could also lower the emergence of social isolation and be essential for improving the quality of life and well-being of the patients, as well as of their families.

WorkPackages and Deliverables

  • WP1. Technical specs and design of the system

    1.1. Market analysis and requirements of end-users

    1.2. Technical characteristics and design of sub-parts

  • WP2. Construction of electro-mechanical parts

    2.1. Construction of the skeleton of the system

    2.2. Contraction of the pneumatic system

  • WP3. Software development

    3.1. Software integration of electronics

    3.2. Software game

    3.3. App for mobile devices

  • WP4. System integration and control

    4.1. Prototype ALPHA

    4.2 Technical Control of Prototype ALPHA

  • WP5. System evaluation and results utilisation

    5.1. System evaluation

    5.2. Publications and Presentations

    5.3. Website

    5.4. Workshops

  • WP6. Patent

    6.1. Application for patent

Partners

  • Biomechanical Solutions

    Leader

  • Polytech

    Partner

  • CERTH - IBO

    Subcontractor

Results

Pictures from meetings & events

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  • IMG 2

  • IMG 3

  • DSCN 4697

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Publications

  • 2018. Greeck Society of Biomechanics, Thessaloniki, Greece

  • 2022. International Conference in Sports Science, Komotini Greece

  • 2022. International Conference ELMO, Athens, Greece

  • 2023. Biomed paper

  • 2023. 4th Internation Conference of Sport Science, Thessaloniki

Construction

  • IMG 20210219 110605

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  • IMG 20210616 100221

  • IMG 20210624 1019041

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For more pictures see here 

Final Product

  • IMG 28 Dbea 3185 D 0 E 0 De 004 Ad 19 E 4 E 2 Abfa 1 V

  • IMG 95 Aa 66544413 Afb 74 F 2 Ba 83 C 7536 F 18 A V

  • IMG 73 A 4 Ad 93 D 142 Bfcffda 2 D 6 D 4 Bbff 6598 V

  • IMG A 0 Cf 08833606 A 1369 A 964 D 5 B 184261 E 2 V

Shows

  • IMG 57 Fb 15 B 296 F 98 Ee 22853 D 182 Fd 0 D 38 A 6 V

  • IMG 3 Fe 32 Fa 3 Fc 0 A 3992 Afa 081154 C 6 C 40 C 2 V

  • IMG 68 F 7 Da 84267 B 02 A 22 E 05 E 6 E 93 Ac 64 A 94 V

  • 20230118 182001

  • 20230118 182021

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Vrada

Vrada

We will develop a virtual reality environment to help patients with Alzheimer disease to do exercise

Funded by EYDE-ETAK (GR)

Project Overview

An extensive amount of research on the benefits of exercise supports that exercise plays a vital role on health, physical functioning and quality of life, and in the prevention and rehabilitation of many deceases such as dementia. People suffering from dementia number 46.8 million worldwide, while 7.7 million new cases of dementia are recorded each year. In Greece, patients suffering from one of the categories of dementia, the Alzheimer disease, have been calculated to be around 200,000 and that they will reach 500,000 by 2050. Inactivity alone, constitutes the cause of 3.8% of all dementia cases worldwide. Recently, exercise has been recognized to benefit these patient populations both as a mechanism for the amelioration of their health and the prevention of dementia as well as a mechanism for the improvement of their cognitive functioning and memory. The difficult part however, is for these patients to recognize the benefits of exercise. These benefits become apparent when someone is trained in an enjoyable and attractive environment. This proposal aims to develop an attractive, innovative and self-regulating exercise program for the improvement of health that takes place in a virtual environment incorporated by an exercise apparatus. For this purpose, we require a multidisciplinary approach that will be based on the most recent findings of psychology, physiology and virtual reality technology. Specifically, from the field of psychology this virtual reality application will include self-regulation strategies such as goal setting and self-talk. Additionally, this model will provide the participants with the ability to self-regulate the intensity and duration of their exercise in accordance to a number of protocols of the physiology of exercise that can be highly personalized around each participant. These exercise protocols are regulated through a number of factors which will be displayed inside this virtual environment in real time. Meaning that during his or her exercise inside the virtual environment, the patient will be informed of the distance he has covered, the speed, the intensity, his heart rate, the subjective feeling of fatigue as well as the personal levels of satisfaction and enjoyment. Additionally, this model will provide the participants with visual or auditory cues and directions targeting a number of goals for the participant. The participant will be able to choose which ones to follow and which ones to ignore according to what is more beneficial for him or her at every given moment. Therefore, the user will be able to listen to directions at specific time intervals or repeat them loudly to himself aided by a number of cues given by the program. Cognitive exercises for the improvement of memory will also be provided through the system. This innovative, self-regulating, virtual reality program is going to be designed exclusively around patients suffering from all types of dementia and Alzheimer. The program’s ultimate goal is to exercise these patients and at the same time to improve their memory and their cognitive functions. At the end of the exercise program, the patient will receive immediate information around the amount of exercise he or she did, the time he needed to complete the cognitive memory exercises etc. The cooperating teams will initially develop the virtual environment and incorporate it to exercise bikes, suitable for the exercise of elderly individuals. This virtual environment will be controlled at all stages of its development, by performing test trials on populations suffering from dementia of various levels. These will take place at the gyms of the Hellenic Association of Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders. When the application is completed, the effectiveness and appeal of the system will be tested using experimental methods and neuropsychological, psychomotor and neuroimaging evaluations. With the completion of the project, an innovative tool and highly personalized exercise system be given to the medical society.

WorkPackages and Deliverables

  • WP1. Formative Research

    1.1. Research Protocol.

  • WP2. 3D Material

    2.1. Virtual Reality environment

  • WP3. Bike implementation

    3.1. Connection bike to Virtual envirnoment

     

  • WP4. Reasearch A

    4.1. Research A

  • WP5. Research B

    5.1. Research B

  • WP6. Feasability study

    6.1. Feasibility study

Partners

Pictures from meetings & events

  • DSCN 4689

  • DSCN 4703

  • DSCN 4711

  • IMG 2

  • IMG 3

  • DSCN 4697

  • DSCN 4714

Publications

2018. Greeck Society of Biomechanics

Read more: Vrada

  • Hits: 10030

Vern

  • Hits: 9852

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Contact us
Tsiflikaki & Karaiskaki
Karditsomagoula
43150 Karditsa
GREECE

T. +30 24410 24575
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