ETH RESC - Suva Funding Programme
The ETH RESC – Suva Funding Programme has been established to support research and development that addresses challenges and opportunities in the areas of prevention, rehabilitation, assistance, inclusion, and health economics with a focus on accident-related injury. The research grants are funded by our strategic partner Suva - the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund.
Research Call 2: Remote Rehabilitation
In February 2022, the Competence Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Science (RESC) published its second research call "Remote Rehabilitation". Applicants were invited to propose novel approaches to strengthen outpatient rehabilitation towards the principle of "outpatient before inpatient" with a focus on remote rehabilitation in people with accident-related injuries.
Funding for this research call is supported by RESC’s strategic partner Suva within the framework of external page ETH’s Rehabilitation Initiative.
Winner: RehabCoach
The grant was awarded to "RehabCoach – a digital platform that supports remote rehabilitation".
The grant will be used to develop a first proof-of-concept for remote technology-supported interventions that will be generalizable to other rehabilitation applications. The interdisciplinary research group, led by RESC members Dr Olivier Lambercy, Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory (RELab) at D-HEST, and Dr Tobias Kowatsch, Professor for Digital Health Interventions at the University of Zurich (UZH), Director at the School of Medicine, University of St.Gallen (HSG), and Scientific Director of the external page Centre for Digital Health Interventions (CDHI) at ETH Zurich (D-MTEC), UZH, and HSG, started the project in October 2022 and will run it for three years.
Research Call 4: Outpatient and Residential Rehabilitation
In November 2023, the Competence Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Science (RESC) published its fourth research call "Outpatient and Residential Rehabilitation". Applicants were invited to propose novel approaches to strengthen outpatient and residential (near home/workplace) rehabilitation with a focus on people with accident-related injury.
Funding for this research call is supported by RESC’s strategic partner Suva within the framework of external page ETH’s Rehabilitation Initiative.
The grant has been awarded to two promising projects aimed at strenghtening outpatient and residential rehabilitation.
Winner 1: RehabCoach 2.0 - scaling up unsupervised rehabilitation by combining robotics and an AI-based mobile application
The grant will be used to scale up and further validate the RehabCoach platform, i.e. the combination of an easy-to-use rehabilitation robot training upper limb function and a digital coaching mobile application to motivate patients and assist them in engaging in self-directed therapy. The interdisciplinary research group, led by RESC members Dr Olivier Lambercy, Adjunct Professor and Co-Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory (RELab) at D-HEST, Dr Tobias Kowatsch, Professor for Digital Health Interventions at the University of Zurich (UZH), Director at the School of Medicine, University of St.Gallen (HSG), and Scientific Director of the external page Centre for Digital Health Interventions (CDHI) at ETH Zurich (D-MTEC), UZH, and HSG, and Bertrand Léger, Head of Research for the external page Suva’s clinics, started the project in June 2024 and will run it for 21 months.
Winner 2: Smart Technology Applications in Rehabilitation Training at Home (START Home)
The grant will be used to develop an integral smart glasses solution customized for accident-related traumatic brain injury to measure visuomotor integration difficulties in a standardized way and present the patients with specific support during inpatient and home-based rehabilitation. The interdisciplinary research group, led by RESC members Dr Mirko Meboldt, Full Professor and Head of the Product Development Group Zurich at D-MAVT, and Dr Christian Holz, Assistant Professor and Head of the external page Sensing, Interaction and Perception Lab at D-INFK, started the project in August 2024 and will run it for 24 months.