SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY
Fit for Medical Robotics aims to revolutionize current rehabilitation and assistive models for people of all ages with reduced or absent motor, sensory, or cognitive functions, by means of novel (bio)robotic and allied digital technologies and of continuum of care paradigms that can take advantage of the novel technologies in all the phases of the rehabilitation process, from the prevention up to the home care in the chronic phase. This will be possible by carefully identifying the unmet needs of patients and healthcare practitioners, and by tackling them with current and novel (bio)robotic/bionic technologies, via multi-centric clinical trials jointly conceived by bioengineers, neuroscientists, physiatrists, psychologists and functional/preventive limb surgeons. Such a new continuum-of-care paradigm will start from the prevention and will target all phases of the disease, from acute (bed-side) to chronic (home-rehabilitation) and will contribute to the design of new pre-habilitation protocols and of diagnostic tools for fragile individuals or workers exposed to occupational diseases or repetitive stresses. Fit for Medical Robotics will focus both on already available technologies not yet fully validated, and on emerging technologies or breaking-through ideas to be explored throughout the project. Hence, foundational studies, involving new materials, algorithms, smart sensing and actuation technologies, as well as sustainable power sources, will sought to overcome the limitations of current robotic solutions, which have prevented their massive spread as physical care providers, in order to pave the way to the next generation of biomedical robotic systems. Not less important, the clinical, scientific, and technologic efforts will be matched on the policy, regulatory and organizational sides in order to accelerate the setup of an adequate framework apt to incorporate (in a sustainable manner) current and future technologies and protocols in the healthcare system as well as to sustain the innovation they will bring about.
