The innovation is an intelligent Homy walking aid, from the young company Ora Médical, which will facilitate the rehabilitation of children by adjusting the support it provides them according to their abilities, their progress and their degree of fatigue.
Which
Sarah Lambert was doing an internship as part of her bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy when she realized that walkers for children in rehabilitation were not fully meeting their needs.
To give herself the means to find innovative answers to this kind of problem, she undertook studies in mechanical engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. As part of a study project, Sarah Lambert and her colleague Louis St-Pierre laid the foundations for a walker that partially compensated for the child’s weight.
Together, they founded the company Ora Médical, incorporated in July 2020 and incubated by Centech.
We don’t like to say the word walker, because we are more than that. It is truly an intelligent walking aid, which will help the patient to progress more than conventional tools.
Sarah Lambert, president and co-founder of Ora Médical
The problem
Children with cerebral palsy and similar problems should maintain a regular and intense exercise program to avoid deconditioning when walking.
On a standard walker, children in rehabilitation have the reflex to reduce their load by supporting themselves with the hands, reducing the work of their legs.
The solution
The Homy walker reproduces the work of the physiotherapist, who stands behind the patient to support him.
Because its structure does not provide support points for the hands, it promotes optimal use of the legs.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ORA MEDICAL
Last November, Ora Médical’s Homy walking aid was tested in the laboratory by 7-year-old Nayla.
The child is restrained at the hips by a harness, which is attached to a pole attached to the back of the rollator.
A constant force spring supports part of the child’s weight by exerting an upward vertical force – “like my hands are there,” says Sarah Lambert.
Partial weight support adjusts to help patients progress at their own pace.
Sensors and artificial intelligence
When the child begins to tire, he supports himself less with his legs and lowers himself into a “triple flexion” posture.
This postural change and the slowing in walking speed are measured by the rollator’s sensors. Thanks to the app attached to the system, the weight compensation will be adjusted accordingly. “It makes it possible to have hyper personalized and reproducible training for the child,” comments Sarah Lambert.
For the moment, this compensation is provided mechanically by the spring, but a motorized version is under development.
Ora Médical’s AI specialist is developing an artificial intelligence model that can make recommendations based on the child’s degree of progression, “as if the health professional was present”. “Our goal is to improve remote care. ”
Design
The preliminary version of the device is not yet very elegant, concedes Sarah Lambert. This is why two young industrial designers joined his team to design an aesthetic, ergonomic and functional version.
“Our first target clientele is children. They even managed to incorporate games into the product. ”
One of these games would consist in projecting on the ground in front of the child’s feet images – water lilies, for example – on which he would be encouraged to put his feet.
Advancement
In November, a first proof of concept was tested in the laboratory with a patient – little Nayla, 7. “We are really happy to see the results,” says Sarah Lambert. There really are better biomechanics of walking. ”
Clinical trials will be carried out this winter with the Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Center, in collaboration with the Victor-Doré specialized school.
The future
Ora Medical has obtained a provisional patent for its partial weight support system.
We have a very innovative vision. We want to be pioneers in long-distance rehabilitation.
Sarah Lambert, president and co-founder of Ora Médical
The company is preparing to launch its first round of dilutive financing.
“If all goes well, we could start marketing at the end of 2023. Since this is a medical device, we need to seek approvals from Health Canada and the American FDA. ”
Ora Médical will then be able to contact rehabilitation centers, first in Quebec and Ontario, then in the United States around 2024.
The team is currently looking for a Quebec company to which the manufacturing can be entrusted.
There is still a long way to go, but the project is underway.