Isha is a blue doll with moving ears and two screens. The robot is reminiscent of a figure from Barbapapabut with a completely different purpose. She must ensure that geriatric (older) patients can do their exercises at home. This means that the rehabilitation centers are less taxed and a remote physiotherapist can check how the recovery is.
The idea for Isha comes from the tube of Margo van Kemenade, lecturer robotics at Inholland. “At a party I spoke to a physiotherapist who was disappointed that his older patients do not optimally rehabilitate after a stroke. They no longer see the usefulness of their age. But if they do their exercises, they can really make some of their lives.”
Time to put arm around the patient
Margo wanted to find something on that. The care is under pressure: everyone is getting older and more and more healthcare staff is needed, what is not there. “Technology can contribute to this and robots and robotics can also make care more human. That may sound crazy. I mean that robots can do the annoying, boring or heavy work, so that a care provider has time to put an arm around someone. There is also a lot of health gain in it.”
And so Isha arose. This is being worked on together with the West Frisian care organization Omring. Margo: “It has been working on many smart students from different courses in the past two years.” One of them is Damian Brandsen (21) from Hoorn. The Elektrotechniek student is improving Isha’s ease of use. “I’m going to make sure that Isha also works on a battery. Then you are not dependent on a power outlet.”