RE2 Receives NIH Grant for Robotic Wheelchair Transfer Assist System
RE2 Inc. announced that it was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health for research and development of a Patient Assist Robotic Arm.
RE2 is partnering with the University of Pittsburgh to develop and assess the marketability potential of the university’s wheelchair-mounted robotic assisted transfer system. The Veterans Administration is also working with RE2 and the university at the company’s Human Engineering Research Laboratories.
The goal of the NIH-funded program is to engineer a practical solution to allow the severely handicapped to transfer to and from a wheelchair in a safe, comfortable and efficient manner.
“The PARA technology is novel, because it is the first patient-moving system to be mounted directly to a wheelchair,” says RE2 Principal Scientist Dr. Andrew B. Mor. “PARA would provide people with severe disabilities and their caregivers greater autonomy and freedom to participate in the community and vastly improve quality of life.”
