One in five people experience a stroke at some point in their lives, and half of all strokes lead to paralysis of one side of the body, called hemiparesis. There are around 550,000 hemiparesis cases per year in the EU. Strokes cost the EU about €34.3 billion per year, of which €17 billion is spent on the treatment of hemiparesis. These costs do not include indirect costs due to incapacity to work, or unpaid care provided by relatives and friends. As such, strokes and hemiparesis are of great socioeconomic importance.
Since there is no known cure for hemiparesis, treatment focuses on rehabilitation to minimise further loss of body function and reduce pain, muscle regression, or spastic paralysis due to reduced mobility. Existing rehabilitation methods includes: weak dorsiflexion, orthosis, hippotherapy and the use of therapeutic and neurorehabilitation devices. Such rehabilitation accounts for €8 billion per year of direct costs in the EU. Mobility improvements can be made with intense physiotherapy, but these improvements are not lasting due to brain damage which affects movement memory. Currently no solution exists that leads to a lasting improvement in the mobility of hemiparesis patients.
The level of suffering of hemiparesis patients is enormous. On the one hand, such patients often suffer from chronic, sometimes severe pain. On the other hand, disability often means the inability to work and financial constraints, social exclusion, isolation and concomitantly depression. Due to the disability, also the family is burdened with the need to take over most of the care.
Thanks to our innovation MovEAid, for the first time, hemiparesis patients now have the chance for a long-term effective therapy method and thus to have a normal and self-determined life, without pain or exclusion.
