An intelligent medical device offering personalized rehabilitation guidance to patients with lower limb fractures and lower body surgery has been developed by local medical experts.
The device is a walking aid which can collect patient data such as limb strength to create individualized rehabilitation plans. The data can also be transmitted to doctors for long-distance evaluation and direction.
Data collected from the device is expected to lead to tailored rehabilitation guidelines for Asian people, said Dr Zhang Changqing from Shanghai No. 6 People’s Hospital, a leading specialist in the development of the new system. According to the doctor, Asian patients may differ from Western patients in various respects, including weight and strength.
Doctors generally only give vague direction for rehabilitation to patients after surgery. How much strength a patient should exert during post-op weight training and walking practice is not specific, which can result in slow progress or re-injury, doctors said.
“Based on clinical experiences, we teamed up with other partners to develop the intelligent walking aid device, which can monitor strength and give proper training guidance to patients,” Zhang said. [APBN]