Laboratories to experiment with technologies at the service of children, light and cheap exoskeletons for patients with compromised limbs, virtual tours for respiratory recovery. With the Empatia @ project, Lecco is confirmed as an avant-garde district for rehabilitation on the Italian scene. In particular, in the last four years, academics and clinicians have worked together to study and develop solutions that are easy to use even at home, focusing on the essential involvement of the patient.
The Empatia @ Lecco Project, launched in 2017, is the third chapter of the largest project in the district that focuses on neuromuscular rehabilitation and provides for technological innovation actions aimed at empowering the patient, with the development of device prototypes and evaluation methods. innovative.
A territorial project
The Empatia project has developed thanks to a wide collaboration of organizations which sees the territorial association Univerlecco as leader and involves the Lecco pole of the Politecnico di Milano, the Cnr pole in Lecco, the Ircc “Eugenio Medea”, the Inrca Institute for Scientific Hospitalization and Care, Valduce Hospital (“Villa Beretta” Rehabilitation Center in Costa Masnaga) and Ats Brianza and Asst Lecco. “The experience of the rehabilitation district shows us today that working on shared priorities allows, over time, to generate tangible value for the life of people and territories,” said Giovanni Fosti, president of the Cariplo Foundation at the presentation of the results. The foundation that supported the project – together with the Lombardy Region – is evaluating the hypothesis of a refinancing.
From exoskeletons to virtual reality
Among the numerous results achieved, the following stand out:
1) lightweight wearable exoskeletons with “economic” technologies that allow them to be used at home