Editorial
The project management is responsible for the content of the information provided.
Cooperation
This project, funded by Gebert Rüf Stiftung, is supported by the following project partners: EPFL BioRob Laboratory, Lausanne; University of Texas, Austin Carol Cockrell Curran Endowed Chair; CHUV, Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois; Hôpital du Valais, Sion.
Project data
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Project no: GRS-075/19
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Amount of funding: CHF 150'000
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Approved: 30.10.2019
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Duration: 01.2020 - 06.2021
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Area of activity:
InnoBooster, seit 2018
Project management
Abstract
Hand impairments are among the most common consequences of neurological conditions such as cerebrovascular accidents, spinal cord injuries and cerebral palsies. Due to the fundamental role that our hands play in, deficits in hand functions (e.g. from stroke or spinal cord injury) drastically reduce our ability to perform even simple tasks, such as preparing and eating a meal.
Current solutions aimed at treating and assisting hand function fail to restore grasping, which results in more than 50 M people worldwide who typically rely on caregivers to live.
YAGO (Your Assistive Grasp Orthosis) aims to enable independence for people with hand motor impairments by offering a portable robotic glove that can both actively open and close the hand, to perform activities of daily living and support independent living for these users.
What is special about the project?
Yago is based on patent-pending artificial tendons, developed during a PhD at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), which have the unique competitive advantage of actively opening and closing the hand of the user in a portable and soft design. This is particularly important for hand-impaired stroke patients (and other neurological conditions) who typically face little to no recovery with respect to finger extension (e.g. hand opening), and who may suffer from a clenched fist due to mild to moderate spasticity. The modular, lightweight and wearable design of the artificial tendons enables continuous use in activities of daily living, for a device that can be autonomously worn on and off by the user and easily washed when needed.
The project aims at targeting a fundamental drawback of standard of care: the limited time patients can benefit from assistance and care from caregivers and devices. By exploiting its unique technology compatible with intensive use in daily living, Yago’s vision is to enable independence for people with disabilities, directly at home and during their everyday life.
Status/Results
Since the project’s conception in 2015, the device has been iteratively designed and tested with patients, physicians and therapists at Swiss partner clinics (CHUV Nestlé, Paraplegic Center Nottwil, SUVA Care Sion, Hôpital du Valais), showing how motor-disabled users could perform several activities of daily living for the first time since their disabling accidents thanks to the support of the device.
During the Innobooster period (2020), Yago will focus on translating the functional prototype into a CE marked assistive device and launch sales to clinics.
Publications
Randazzo et al. (2018). Mano: A wearable hand exoskeleton for activities of daily living and neurorehabilitation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Media
Instant T: Quand l’innovation gagne sur le handicap, RTS, 20.05.2019
Feedback enhances brainwave control of a novel hand-exoskeleton, EFPL News, 22.01.2018
also covered by Reuters, EurekAlert, Science et Vie, SWI swissinfo, 24 heures, RTS Couleur 3, Netzwoche, Blick and others
Links
Persons involved in the project
Last update to this project presentation 28.01.2021