New Italian Rehab Technology & Employment Center

A new Rehabilitation Technology Research Center has been founded in Lucca, Italy, by the National Institute for Insurance of Injured Workers and Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna (SSSA) of Pisa, with the aim of creating a scientific center for research in the field of rehabilitation bioengineering. Centro RTR will be the "meeting point" between basic university research activity, in particular of the bioengineering laboratories of the SSSA, and the INAIL institutional activity, with particular reference to the applied research activities, to the range of services provided to disabled workers. A main emphasis will be on the transfer of the technologies developed to application in industry.

Model
 

The proposed model for Centro RTR is inspired by some existing centers operating in other countries. The most important is the Rehabilitation Research & Development Center of the Veterans Affairs Department, in Palo Alto (California, USA), where applied research is carried out by integrating the clinical experience of a high level clinical care and rehabilitation center with the scientific skills of Stanford University. For the activation of Centro RTR, a gradual approach has been adopted, which includes the start-up of pilot actions in the strategic activity areas of the Center, even before the opening of the final site. The following projects have been identified:

1)Component study and system design for motor rehabilitation of disabled people

2)Innovative component study and design for sensorized prosthetic systems

3)Telematic, domotic and robotic technologies for working environment automation, aiming at vocational integration of disabled people

4)Methodologies and tools for functional assessment and for supporting the rehabilitative process of motor disabled subjects

5)Technological tools and methodologies for vocational training with the aim of job reintegration of disabled people
For information:
Ufficio RTR
Ms. Francesca Allegranti
c/o ARTS Lab
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Via G. Carducci 40, 56127 Pisa
Tel. +39-050-883409 Fax. +39-050-883402
e-mail: inail_rtr@arts.sssup.it
Web: http://www-arts.sssup.it/centrortr

Scientific supervisor:
Prof. Paolo Dario
Tel. +39-050-883400 Fax. +39-050-883402
e-mail:dario@arts.sssup.it