Wearable tech will help improve stroke rehab

WATERLOO, Ont. – The University of Waterloo and Pervasive Dynamics will develop and test wearable health technologies that can improve stroke rehabilitation as part of a new partnership aimed at transforming the health of older adults.

The joint research initiative, the first partnership between the University of Waterloo and the Canadian developer of medical devices, will be part of the new Advanced Aging ResearCH Centre (ARCH) at the university.

“Advanced wearable sensors are the next generation of personalized healthcare,” said Professor Bill McIlroy (pictured), of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Waterloo and head of ARCH. “They enable us to gain insights that are just not available through off-the-shelf products.”

The new devices will allow researchers to extract sophisticated data related to a stroke victim’s cardiovascular and nervous systems, balance and gait, and generate tailored diagnostic reports to improve physical and mental rehabilitation.

The new partnership will also explore the development of other wearable health technologies for older adults.

“From the management of chronic disease, to fall prevention and mobility strategies, health wearables have the potential to make a huge difference for the elderly,” said Muhammad Khan, founder and CEO of Pervasive Dynamics, and an alumnus of the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program at Waterloo.

“If we can get technologies like these in the hands of the public and practitioners we can significantly reduce the impact and burden of an aging population on the Canadian healthcare system by providing clinicians with more data on which to base healthcare decisions.”

By 2030, one-quarter of the Canadian population – close to 8 million people – will be over the age of 65. Stroke is the third major cause of death in Canada, with approximately 50,000 Canadians suffering a stroke each year. More than 20 percent of older adults will take serious falls, costing the healthcare system $2 billion in related costs annually.

“ARCH is focused on facilitating advances in therapies to slow down the trajectory of aging and reduce the risk of age-related injury and disease,” said McIlroy. “If we hope to reduce the impact of an aging population, we need to start now.”

In May, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research awarded ARCH $1.3 million for a variety of diagnostic and measurement tools. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility will house the most comprehensive collection of equipment focused on aging in the country.

About the University of Waterloo

In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada’s technology hub, has become one of Canada’s leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. A globally focused institution, celebrated as Canada’s most innovative university for 23 consecutive years, Waterloo is home to the world’s largest post-secondary co-operative education program and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit uwaterloo.ca.

About Pervasive Dynamics

Pervasive Dynamics Inc., operating out of the Waterloo Accelerator Centre, is a Canadian company focused on developing the next generation of wearable medical devices, aimed at providing diagnostic grade information. This reaches far beyond the level of fitness gadgets, which are only sufficient to keep a user motivated to take some exercise. For the same reason, Pervasive Dynamics’s products target health monitoring, rehabilitation and high-performance athletic markets, where extremely accurate monitoring and analysis is needed for a comprehensive insight into coordination and functioning of all human body systems. For more information about Pervasive Dynamics Inc., please visit www.pervasivedynamics.com.