Bialystok University of Technology was granted a patent: Upper limb orthosis with wrist rehabilitation function

The designed orthosis is intended to support the process of improving the upper limb. The invention is protected under patent no. P.427346.
 

– ‘The idea for the orthosis is the result of an analysis of existing solutions and the needs reported by doctors,’ – explains Piotr Borkowski, PhD, Eng, an employee of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology. – ‘In addition to the function of stabilising the upper limb, the designed orthosis performs wrist rehabilitation functions. This makes it possible to realise the rehabilitation process at any time (e.g. while walking). Until now, there have been no such solutions!’

Previously, the inventor had spoken to doctors interested in new medical solutions. He was also able to draw on expert readings and his own experience in designing and building unique devices to support rehabilitation.

– ‘The presented orthosis solution is dedicated to the upper limb, and more precisely to the wrist and elbow joints,’ – explains Piotr Borkowski, PhD, Eng.

Due to its modularity, the orthosis allows for more precise adjustment to the needs of users. It is possible to use the elbow or wrist modules individually, or to assemble them in the appropriate configuration. It can therefore serve people with dysfunctions located in virtually any segment of the limb.

– ‘The task of the device is to support exercises recommended by a doctor and dedicated to a particular patient,’ – explains the purpose of the invention by Piotr Borkowski, PhD, Eng.

An additional advantage are the adjustments, which give the possibility of individual adjustment to each type of patient’s build and rehabilitation objective. Therefore, the whole orthosis allows both immobilisation and dynamic movements of the supported limb.

Piotr Borkowski, PhD, Eng has been combining the worlds of engineering and medicine for years.

– ‘Biomedical engineering and medicine form an inseparable whole,’ – stresses the inventor. – ‘Technical solutions created jointly by engineers and doctors open up possibilities in the development of new treatment processes. Modern medicine would not exist in its current state without the support of engineers, and biomedical engineering is very keen to take advice from medics.’

An employee of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology is the author or co-author of many original ideas.

– ‘This is the 14th solution of mine to be recognised as original by the Polish Patent Office,’ – reveals Piotr Borkowski, PhD, Eng.– ‘This gives me positive energy to file new designs for patent and search for their practical application.’

The patent application was filed to the Patent Office in 2018. At the time, Urszula Kuczyńska, MSc, the co-inventor, was still a student of biomedical engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology. Today she works at ChM sp. z o.o. It is one of the largest manufacturers of implants and instruments for traumatology and orthopaedics in Poland.