Study of innovative product and process solutions based on the industrial use of advanced materials

HP Composites is the lead partner of the T.R.E.E. - Tailored Rehabilatation for the Engagement Empowerment of cronically disabled people, funded by POR FESR MARCHE 2014-2020 - Axis 1 - OS 3 - Action 3.1 - Call "Promote innovative solutions to address the challenges of local communities in the field of health and well-being" . The project involves nine companies from the Marche region listed below:

HP COMPOSITES SPA

4D ENGINEERING SRL UNIPERSONALE

COMPANY HOSPITALS RIUNITI OF ANCONA

GENERA S.C.A.R.L.

THE PICCHIO CONSORTIUM OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL COOPERATIVES

ISIDORI VENTILAZIONE SRL

JESILAB SRL

META SRL

PICCHIO SPA

ROXOR SRL

The total cost of the project amounts to € 2,415,613.70 and the total contribution to € 1,398,303.66.

The TREE project involves the creation of an integrated, modular and expandable platform for the implementation and monitoring of personalized rehabilitation processes for people with chronic disabilities. The target pathologies of the project are those of subjects with chronic disabling outcomes from brain or spinal damage, subjects suffering from movement disorders and subjects with mild cognitive impairment. The platform will give the possibility of administering rehabilitation treatments in two types of environments: specialized facilities dedicated to rehabilitation, for serious chronic diseases, and the home environment, which in addition to the patient's home also includes RSAs. The various innovative modules that characterize the project are described below.

Mobility aid

To extend the use of the proposed rehabilitation and monitoring solutions to patients with severe motor disabilities, an innovative mobility aid was created, a smart wheelchair capable of integrating the developed tools on board. The new generation wheelchair, called "Ligiera", has a structure made by HP Composites in carbon fiber, light and performing, and an innovative power-train group, lithium-ion battery and control system directly on the wheel, minimizing weights and maximizing range and maneuverability. The wheelchair integrates in the on-board electronics a board (Black Box) capable of acquiring all the kinematic quantities of the motion (speed, accelerations, km traveled, etc.) as well as monitoring the residual autonomy and can be used both in the home, and at the rehabilitation facilities, ensuring the correct use of the personalized rehabilitation path.

Rehabilitation Form at Specialized Facilities

It consists of an innovative hydrokinesitherapy pool, capable of administering a rehabilitation process of extreme quality and effectiveness. The system, unique of its kind, is able to continuously modulate the hydrodynamic resistance of the water through special jet lines (outlets) arranged on several levels, creating a measurable and variable counter-current motion, with pressure gradients focused in the areas to be treated, in relation to the pathology and physical endurance of the user.

The plant is also able to functionally modify some characteristics of the aquatic environment, eg. depth, temperature, density, in order to influence the buoyancy force (conceptual pillar of rehabilitation in water). The tub is fully accessible even by patients who move in wheelchairs and is equipped with additional aids for motor activity in the water, treadmill, bike, backrests, movable floor, combining in a compact structure the functions of hydrotherapy tub, vascular path and rehabilitation gym, reducing space and energy and water consumption in a totally eco-sustainable structure.

Home Rehabilitation Form

Called the “Exergames” platform, it consists of two rehabilitation tools coordinated by a computer system that allows the use and monitoring of personalized rehabilitation paths.

The first tool is a Smart Wall or a vertical multitouch system, which proposes a series of games composed of images or geometric shapes to be touched in sequence that allows to carry out the biometric analysis of the gestures, evaluating the patient's performance in the execution of the exercise, with respect to pre-established parameters. The second proposed instrument is a Smart Floor, which, thanks to a grid of piezoelectric pressure sensors, is able to detect the motion of the patient who is exercising on it. The two tools are used jointly for the execution of exercises of greater complexity, maximizing the effect of rehabilitation therapy, it is therefore possible to evaluate all aspects related to the mobility and responsiveness of the patients who perform the exercises.

Behavioral Analysis Module

Behavioral monitoring is carried out by means of a neural network interfaced with a network of home sensors (Care Box), which, after an initial period of learning and creating the patient's behavioral model, will be able to observe their daily life, focusing on the focus on the number of hours of rest, on mobility within the home, on the predisposition to go out and socialize, on the use of environments and appliances. The Care Box provides feedback to the rehabilitation team and the Care Giver in the event of significant deviations from the initial model developed.

Data Collection Platform

All the data collected during the rehabilitation sessions in specialized facilities or at home is acquired by an IT platform in the cloud, with which to plan, coordinate and manage all aspects related to the correct use of rehabilitation paths by patients and control the clinical and behavioral monitoring data. The IT platform includes appropriate dashboards for consulting data from PC (dashboard) and an app for smartphones and tablets, which allow the rehabilitation team to check the progress of the rehabilitation process and the clinical and psychological conditions of patients.

HP Composites is a partner of:

HP Composites is the lead partner of the MARLIC project - Marche Applied Research Laboratory for Innovative Composites co-financed by the Marche Region under the POR MARCHE FESR 2014-2020.

The project aims to create a regional collaborative research laboratory in the areas affected by the earthquake on the issues of eco-sustainability of products and processes for new materials and demanunfacturing.
The laboratory is the beating heart around which two research projects are developed, a technology transfer project and one for the dissemination of results.

The activities carried out are aimed at supporting the Marche industrial system for the modernization and diversification of products and production processes, through the development of composite materials of organic origin and the recovery of production waste, end-of-life components and raw / secondary materials from production cycles.

The project involves 21 companies, 5 research institutions and the Cluster Marche foundation.
The total investment amounts to € 11.34.20,66 and the public funding to € 6,400,197.70.

More information: https://www.marlic.it/it