From robotics to AI – the NRC holds the key to pioneering new rehab technologies
I come from an engineering background and I’ve always been particularly interested in the role technology can play in healthcare and clinical rehabilitation. I have spent the past 20 years researching technology that has benefits in both physical and mental health.
While progress has been made in the NHS in recent years, we still have some way to go with rehabilitation technology. That’s why the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) is such good news. It promises to revolutionise rehabilitation services in the UK and it will be a vehicle for pioneering new areas of science and technology.
As a researcher in medical technology, my role is all about improving design processes, testing methods and generating evidence that helps determine whether a new technique or technology should be used in the NHS. I’m fortunate to be part of the NRC’s research team – led by academic partners the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University – who will be showcasing some of these exciting technologies at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition next week (4-9 July).
One such example is a research project ExoRehabNHS funded by the NRC that I and colleagues at the University of Nottingham and Clinical Engineering at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust carried out on the use of exoskeletons, which are wearable structures that support and assist movement, or enhance the capabilities of the human body.
The project investigated the current state of robotic lower-limb exoskeleton technology for potential adoption within the NHS. We received predominantly positive feedback from users and potential future users who were living spinal cord injury, as well as physiotherapists. However, we found a number of limitations with current technology such as the level of training required before use and the need for crutches for most people, which demands significant upper limb capability. These limitations can pose difficulties for patients and their rehabilitation journeys – so new tech does not automatically mean better rehabilitation.
On the other hand, recovery and rehabilitation are highly personal, and even more so when it involves a technology that becomes part of one’s body, if only temporarily. Benefits are not only about musculoskeletal function, vascular and bowel health, but can also impact positively on mental health and motivation at different points after an injury. So, researchers and clinicians need to work closely with patients’ wishes about these kinds of technology, not least because the evidence shows us that advances in other technologies, such as sports wheelchair designs, were driven by their users.
While the development of technologies like exoskeletons is progressing, we’re in desperate need of a purpose-built facility that can be used to trial new technologies, accelerate development, and fast track them into use. That is an opportunity we will have through the NRC. Being able to test technologies in the right clinical space and at the R&D stage will be fantastic – using appropriate prototypes with willing patients having different levels of need and at different stages of their rehabilitation journeys to improve and fine-tune methods and technologies. In the future, exoskeletons could play a part in both healthcare and everyday life. But it won’t be all or nothing, and they will sit in an ecosystem of technologies that may be found in the clinic, in the home, or both, and will depend on services and other infrastructure being put in place to fully realise their potential.
I’ve worked with virtual reality systems and AI techniques too – an area that is fast-growing in healthcare and our everyday lives. I see this becoming a specific area that the NRC can really focus on to help make musculoskeletal and neurological rehabilitation more efficient and effective.
What makes the NRC unique is that it will be just a few hundred metres from the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre – sharing the same site on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate means there will be opportunities to share facilities and expertise for mutual benefit.
Being both an engineer and a healthcare researcher, it’s become clear to me through experience the importance of integrating different disciplines and sharing knowledge between clinical, engineering and R&D workstreams.
That’s what the NRC will do and why I believe it will help to revolutionise rehabilitation in the UK.
I’m involved in realising the opportunity the NRC has so I may be biased. But we’ll be in London next week for the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition showcasing the kinds of technology the NRC will be developing – so come down, see what we’ve got to show and make your mind up for yourself.
The NRC will contribute one of just nine interactive exhibits at the prestigious Summer Science Exhibition which takes place from 4-9 July 2023 at the Royal Society, Carlton House Terrace, London. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository: Hybrid Assistive Limb, CYBERDYNE.jpg File is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
