Dear colleagues,
as usual when a newbie joins a community, I think that a short
presentation of what stays behind the signature "Observatory on Research
on Rehabilitation" could be useful.
My name is Luca Odetti, from Pisa, Italy. I am a research assistant at
the ARTS Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (URL
http://www-arts.sssup.it ), and I am currently working on a large
project for the start up of a new applied reserch centre (the site
http://www-arts.sssup.it/centrortr is currently under construction, and
only the italian version has been partially made available) on behalf of
INAIL, the Italian public institution for prevention and insurance of
accidents on the job.
In this framework, I am charged of the management of the P5 subproject
(see below, in the attached presentation of the Project), and especially
of the set up of a set of telematic services for Information Retrieval
and Delivery in the domain of Research on Rehabilitation, namely the
Observatory.
The monitoring of what happens in the international community is the
first step, but I believe that it will not mean simply a "passive"
lurking on the mailing lists, but it will be very useful to promote
interactions between our staff and the international R&D community in
the domains related to Rehabilitation, even in the form of mid- and
long-term partnerships.
Please find below a short introduction to the overall Project.
I hope that this will be the first step towards a fruitful
collaboration.
Best regards
Luca Odetti
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Osservatorio Sulla Ricerca in Riabilitazione
Observatory on Research on Rehabilitation
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Centro INAIL RTR
c/o ARTS Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Via Carducci 40, 56127 Pisa, Italy
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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Contact Person:
Luca Odetti
Personal E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Phone: +39-050-883407
Fax: +39-050-883402
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Scientific Manager:
Eugenio Guglielmelli, PhD
Personal E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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INTRODUCTION TO THE INAIL RTR CENTRE
Objectives
The INAIL Rehabilitation Technology Research Center (Centro RTR) comes
from an initiative promoted by INAIL (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 motor rehabilitation
bioengineering, in the city of Lucca.
Centro RTR will be the “meeting point” between the university basic
research activity, in particular of the bioengineering laboratories of
the SSSA, and the INAIL institutional activity, with particular
reference to the applied research activities, being carried on at the
INAIL Centro Protesi (Vigorso di Budrio, Bologna), and to the
enhancement of the range of services provided to disabled workers and
citizens at National and European level. Since the activities of the
Center are strongly oriented toward the application, particular care
will be taken of the aspects related to the transfer of the developed
technologies toward the industry.
Approach
The proposed model for the design of Centro RTR is inspired by some
existing examples, operating in other countries. Among these, the first
and perhaps the most important is the Rehabilitation Research &
Development Center of the Veterans Affairs Department, in Palo Alto
(California, USA), where studies of applied research are carried out by
integrating the clinical experience of the Veterans Affairs Clinical
Center (a high level clinical care and rehabilitation center) with the
scientific skills of the 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. This
site will be located in the city of Lucca, in Palazzo Mansi, now being
restored, which is expected to be opened in year 2001.
The Center will promote a number of projects, aimed, on one hand, at the
satisfaction of users’ problems and needs experienced everyday by INAIL
operators, and, on the other hand, at taking the operators’ attention to
the more recent results of worldwide research in the fields of
rehabilitative technologies, autonomy promotion and vocational
integration of the disabled. The focus will be also on the vocational
training of the INAIL rehabilitation personnel, in particular of the
prescribing physician. These projects will increase INAIL visibility in
Italy and abroad, as a supplier of highly innovative rehabilitative and
training methodologies and tools.
Research areas
Research areas of Centro RTR cover all the strategic sectors of an ideal
motor rehabilitation process, as shown in the next picture.
The five following research areas are therefore been identified:
· functional restoration: devices for the restoration of the impaired
motor functionality (e.g. through functional electrical stimulation)
· functional replacement: substituting devices for damaged organs (e.g.
prostheses and ortheses)
· technological aids: technological advanced devices (e.g. robotic
systems) for the improvement of autonomy of the disable
· functional assessment: methodologies and tools for disability
assessment
· training: methodologies and tools for vocational training of disabled
people and operators’ training to the use of the rehabilitation
technologies
For a gradual start-up of the activities of the Center, five pilot
projects have been activated, one for each of the research areas. The
duration of these projects is three years, starting in 1998. For each of
the five interest sectors the set-up and start-up of a related
laboratory is also planned; the laboratories will act as a connection
between the research activity of Centro RTR and INAIL institutional
activity.
Research projects for the start-up of Centro RTR
P1 Component study and system design for motor rehabilitation of
disabled people
P2: Innovative component study and design for sensorised prosthetic
systems
P3: Telematic, domotic and robotic technologies for working environment
automation, aiming at vocational integration of disabled people
P4: Methodologies and tools for functional assessment and for supporting
the rehabilitative process of motor disabled subjects
P5: 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: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www-arts.sssup.it/centrortr
Scientific supervisor:
Prof. Paolo Dario
Tel. +39-050-883400 Fax. +39-050-883402
e-mail:[log in to unmask]
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