Assistive Devices

Electrical stimulation device – Toronto Rehab is working to commercialize a stimulator device designed to reawaken paralyzed muscles, page 51

Assistive devices, advanced technologies for caregivers – Toronto Rehab is developing innovative assistive devices and advanced technologies to help families and friends care for loved ones at home, pages 46-47

 

 

Nurses sustain the highest level of back injury compared to any other profession, and 80% of these injuries occur during the transfer, lifting or repositioning of a patient. Despite the availability of mechanical lifts over the past 25 years, why do we continue to see such high levels of back injuries among nurses?

Check out the latest information on Toronto Rehab patient lifting innovations: SlingSerter™ and RoboNurse.

2011                            Source: Toronto Rehab +10 Report on Rehabilitation Research,

                       

Moving an immobile and heavy adult in a hospital setting is dangerous work, putting both health care workers and patients at risk of injury. With the new SlingSerter in development at Toronto Rehab, caregivers will be able to shoot compressed air into three sleeves that slide underneath the patient that then attach to a lift device—completely transforming how patients are moved.

2010                            Source: Toronto Rehab Innovations Gallery

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Toronto Rehab researchers are seeking funds for clinical trials to test a ‘smart’ cushion that they believe will help avoid suffering by preventing pressure ulcers, potentially save lives and reduce costs to the health care system.

 

 

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. Dr. Milos R. Popovic, a Toronto Rehab senior scientist, has come up with a high-tech, low-cost way to prevent these sores. It’s called SensiMat.

One of the greatest challenges of home care is the task of moving someone—from a bed to a chair, or to the bathroom. The result is that too many nurses and family caregivers suffer disabling back pain and families cannot manage to care for their loved ones at home. Enter the SlingSerter™, a novel solution born in the labs of Toronto Rehab.

2010                            Source: Toronto Rehab +9 Report on Rehabilitation Research,

 

Even though most hospitals have lifts to move heavy patients, placing lifting straps underneath people has always been a problem—until now. The SlingSerter™, an invention by designers at Toronto Rehab, lets caregivers place lifting slings under even the heaviest patient without fear of injury. It’s highly effective, and relatively inexpensive.

2009                            Source: Toronto Rehab +8 Report on Rehabilitation Research,

 

 

Health safety experts say workers should lift anything weighing more than 46 pounds. Yet, much of what caregivers do requires moving, shifting and lifting patients, who can weight three, four or five times that much.

 

 

iDAPT will equip researchers with tools they need to develop better-designed and more user-friendly assistive devices. …several spaces have been specifically designed to encourage consumer involvement, including high-tech stakeholder rooms where new products can be evaluated by people with disabilities.

 

 

It’s a place like no other for people with spinal cord injuries − a place where experiences are shared, advice is offered and needs are matched with the best technology. The Spinal Cord Injury Peer Information Library on Technology is a consumer’s online guide to a dizzying array of assistive devices, from transfer aids to special vehicles and computers.