GripAble: A mobile therapy tool for hand and brain recovery

Over 500 million people worldwide live with arm disability due to neurological or musculoskeletal disease (e.g. stroke, arthritis). The most effective therapy to regain arm function is repetitive physiotherapy. However, in practice, access to physiotherapy is significantly limited by the number of available therapists. For example, a large UK government audit showed that the NHS provides the recommended intensity of physiotherapy in less than 50% of stroke cases. GripAble is a simple, patented technology, based around mobile-gaming, that enables low-cost self-assessment and training of arm disability in hospitals or home (www.gripAble.co). The system consists of a portable, digital hand-grip, and wearable arm sensors, that connect to a tablet-based assessment and therapy app. Published proof-of-concept studies show that GripAble improves accessibility and performance relative to many existing self-rehabilitation devices. The purpose of the current project is to improve the capabilities, usability and robustness of the GripAble system by developing new features highlighted as necessary by patients and therapists, e.g. wearable arm-torso sensors and an engaging, robust ‘virtual therapist’ software. The output of this project will increase the adoption likelihood of the GripAble system by both patients and healthcare services on a widespread and global basis. The project benefits from strong academic collaborations with both bioengineering and clinical experts from the Human Robotics Group (Prof E Burdet) and Clinical Neurorehabilitation Centre (Dr P Bentley) based at Imperial College London.