Elektrodress for controlled mobility won the Robotdalen Innovation Award 2013
Elektrodress is a bodysuit that relaxes spastic muscles and thus improves function and mobility for people with spastic muscles, due to neurological disorders such as CP, stroke and Multiple sclerosis. The prize sum from the Robotdalen Innovation Award gives Inerventions, the Swedish company behind the product, possibility to further develop the bodysuit. Elektrodress contributes to increased quality of life for the individual, as well as more flexible and cost-efficient health care; factors that all comply with Robotdalen’s efforts to develop Technology for Independent Life.
Millions of people in the world suffer from pain and disabilities due to spasticity, a symptom of neurological disorders such as CP, stroke and Multiple sclerosis. Spasticity means tense and stiff muscles that disrupt the ability to move as well as the motor skill, and generate spasms. The technology in the Elektrodress is based on Electrical Muscle Stimulation therapy that is integrated in a wearable and washable garment. Elektrodress presents a unique possibility to control and plan around the spasticity, using the bodysuit before going to school or attending a social event, knowing that the body will then function at its best. The patient value consists of spasticity reduction, home-based therapy, ability to reduce hospital visits and improved quality of life.
- The prize sum for the Robotdalen Innovation Award is €12.000. Half of it goes directly to the company, and half of it goes to further developing the product, in co-operation with Robotdalen, aiming at a future commercialization of Elektrodress, says Peter Stany, Innovation Driver at Robotdalen.
The jury for the Robotdalen Innovation Award stated that the Elektrodress enables cost-effective rehabilitation and has a potential of being further extended to a commercial product that is tailored for the individual’s needs. The jury consisted of Danica Kragic Jensfelt, Professor of Computer Science at the Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Christer Norström, CEO at SICS (Swedish Institute for Computer Science) and Tomas Lydigh, Manager for Robotic Automation at the system integrator Teamster.
Width and variation among the other finalists
Second prize in the Robotdalen Innovation Award 2013 went to the Swedish Furhat project and their product Furhat – the social robot head, an innovative hardware solution for socially capable robotic heads, cheaper and more advanced compared to traditional mechatronic robotic heads. The third prize went to German researchers Leonhard Oschütz, Christian Guder and Dr. Matthias Bürger for Kinematics – Robotics for children, a modular robotic construction kit for children, increasing their knowledge and understanding of robot technology in society.
Please visit Robotdalen's web site to download photos
For further information please contact Lennart Karlsson, Internationalization Manager, phone +46 (0)72 200 91 95, e-mail lennart.karlsson@robotdalen.se or Peter Stany, Innovation Driver, phone +46 (0)70 934 93 02, e-mail innovation@robotdalen.se
Robotdalen is a Swedish robotics initiative with the mission to enable commercial success of new ideas and research within robotics & automation. Robotdalen is financed by VINNOVA (the Swedish Innovation Agency), the European Regional Development Fund and a number of public institutions, universities and companies in Central Sweden. Please visit www.robotdalen.se/en for further information.
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