Uli K. Chettipally, MD., MPH. Physician Innovator, Technology Enabled Care
I thought to myself, after getting on the plane for the first time today, after almost 2 years!
Being an innovator/entrepreneur sometimes feels like this. But, I digress.
I am sure you understand when I say, airplanes fascinated me as a kid. I would play with paper planes for hours on end. I actually built a full model airport with planes, hangars and a control tower for a science project at school!
Airplanes have come a long way since I was young. Aeronautics, GPS, jet engines, radar, computer science, machine learning, ergonomics, material science and many other sciences have made tremendous progress. Today’s airplanes are an amalgamation of various technologies coming together to make a machine that can safely fly on it’s own across oceans or launch rockets into space!
Ok, now let’s get back to earth. Let’s look at healthcare. Specifically, neuro-rehabilitation. We still use stationary bicycles, treadmills and those bars that you hold on to while you learn to walk plus other 100 year-old technologies.
You should have seen my excitement when I saw this incredible machine that Torque3 had built. It is hard to describe. It is a riding robot/virtual reality/machine learning rehabilitation device. It is an amalgamation of various technologies coming together in a beautiful form factor!
How does it work?
As you start riding it, it will learn where and how you are using your limbs/joints/muscles #. It will study your reactions to the environmental challenges you are facing in the virtual environment. It is like being inside a video game! It will compensate instantaneously to your weak areas, while generating thousands of data points that are sent to the cloud.
Imagine a patient enjoying therapy time while the machine is evaluating, helping, tracking and providing instant feedback and support to build up the weaker areas. The theory is that it will stimulate the brain via neuro-plasticity (growing new connections) and help heal the deficit faster.
I can’t wait to see the preliminary results from the pilot studies that will be using this device.
I am sure you must be wondering where I was going on the flight. I am actually going to Salt Lake City to witness this machine in action! I am going to host InnovatorMD Meetup from Torque3 office where they are providing a “Sneak Peek” at the machine on Thursday.
Here is the link to register to watch this phenomenon:
Hope to see you then. No, you don’t have to fly. You can watch it live streaming!
By the way, do you know what those bars are called?