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INDUSTRY WATCH
The company faced several challenges
when looking for the right service provider
to help improve and speed up patients’
rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury
and patients who have suffered a
stroke. This included connecting all of its
exoskeleton devices across more than 170
rehabilitation institutions, especially in
North America, Africa and Europe where
connectivity had been an issue. In addition,
One of the biggest opportunities in measuring
exoskeletons’ effectivity is quantifying
what happens in physical therapy sessions.
“The most common therapy intervention in
these patient populations is gait training, a
type of physical therapy that is intended to
help improve patients’ ability to walk,” said
Davault. “Ekso GT helps with this by providing
the exact amount of power needed for the
patient to complete the training.”
EKSOPULSE AND
VODAFONE’S SERVICE
ALLOWS THERAPISTS TO
TRACK PATIENT PROGRESS,
WITH FILTERING TOOLS
ENABLING THEM TO QUICKLY
LOCATE SPECIFIC RECORDS
AND ALLOWING THEM TO
ADAPT THERAPY SESSIONS
ACCORDINGLY.
the company would need to gather data
in real-time and without data loss to
ensure that accurate patient information is
available to therapists.
The platform documents the number
of steps taken and time spent standing,
with stroke patients having been
registered walking up to 431 feet
instead of the previous seven feet during
initial gait training.
The solution
Connected rehabilitation monitoring
Ekso Bionics chose Vodafone as its partner
to connect all exoskeletons globally, via
the Vodafone Managed IoT Connectivity
Platform. EksoPulse and Vodafone’s
service allows therapists to track patient
progress, with filtering tools enabling
them to quickly locate specific records
and allowing them to adapt therapy
sessions accordingly. “It is reassuring to
know that the data is secure and adheres
to the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), protecting
our patients’ privacy,” said Antoinette
Domingo, a physical therapist at the San
Diego State University School of Exercise
and Nutritional Sciences.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Greg Davault, VP, Global Marketing at
Ekso Bionics
While the exoskeleton automatically
collects variables for patients, Ekso
Bionics can track device usage thanks
to the Vodafone Managed IoT
Connectivity Platform. Having identified
a clinic with a low user rate, Ekso Bionics
helped train their therapists to use the
Ekso GT more effectively. As a direct
result of the training, that clinic is now
a world leader in Ekso GT usage and
recently acquired another device to
meet demand. “Since working with
Vodafone, the number of customers we
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