Ablefit: development of an advanced system for rehabilitation

Bedridden patients risk presenting several problems caused by prolonged immobility, leading to a long recovery process. There is thus a need to develop solutions that ensure the implementation of physical rehabilitation programs in a controlled and interactive way. In this context, the ABLEFIT project aims to develop a medical device to physically rehabilitate bedridden patients with prolonged immobility. A partnership was established between the school of nursing, business enterprises and an engineering institute to develop a prototype. After creating the prototype, a pre-clinical experimental usability study was created using the user-centred multi-method approach (User and Human-Centered Design) to assess the device’s functionality, ergonomics and safety. The pre-clinical stage was initiated with a sample of 12 health professionals (that manipulated the device’s functionalities) and 10 end-users (who used the device). During the pre-clinical stage, the need to incorporate in the final version joint stabilizers was observed. Another important finding was the importance of the continuous monitorization of vital signs on Ablefit, namely, heart rate and SPO2. Therefore, the development of the Ablefit system allows the monitoring of a set of variables and conditions inherent to immobility. At the same time, this device will be a dynamic solution (using gamification and simulation technologies) by generating personalized rehabilitation plans.