Due to uneasy development of the complex Intelligent neurorehabilitation system, another two parallel solutions which are also meant to be medical devices and alter by the degree of electronic range and software algorithms involvement has been developing.
1. Basic cube solution
Manually administered, the offline Basic solution contains a set of 6 cubes + pad. On each cube sides, various stimuli can be presented (pictures, numbers, characters, shapes, colors, etc.) and the combination with other cubes could be used for targeted personalized cognitive stimulation from early stages of treatment. This solution was developed and within the approval of the ethical committee started to being tested in a clinical environment.
2. Semi-smart cube solution
The prototype of Semi-Smart solution raised up in April 2019 due to uneasy, expensive and prolonged development of the “Intelligent neurorehabilitation system”. The semi-smart solution is based on the idea, the treatment should be objectively evaluated. The solution includes the neurorehabilitation cubes /grounded on Basic cubes./ with basic sensors for movement detection and wireless connection to the smart device as a smartphone or tablets. Thanks to the gyroscope and accelerometer are possible to evaluate the progress in neuromotor connections in the brain and also with precise detection of the state of the cube, like which kind of direction and which kind of the impulse, a picture is used, is possible to set patient-specific treatment and evaluate progress in the rehabilitation. Thanks to wireless connection are handling and manipulation with the device very comfortable and it is possible to use it without any limitations. This innovative device is very intuitive and thanks to real-time biofeedback, makes the treatment more game without lost of therapeutical effect.
3. Intelligent neurorehabilitation system
Development of Intelligent neurorehabilitation system has been ongoing until today and will continue till December 2021. The project is funded by the Technical Agency of Czech Republic /TL02000313/. Passing the key milestones influenced further development:
- Online testing of the diagnostic module to see a psychometric quality was done on a group of healthy adult volunteers. Then a comparison of a diagnostic module in order to neuropsychological tests finalized in August 2019. The key results influenced further development of the diagnostic module.
- By using basic cubes 10 principles based on CHC model of intelligence were defined and tested. Afterwards, all these principles have been turned into electronic form and being tested.
- TUI cubes are in development.
For market research, 4 European countries were selected thanks to their geographical proximity - Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland. Market research study consists of two parts - desk research analysis and expert interviews and their insight in the selected countries. There are numerous competitors to Eddie mainly in specialized software solutions. Over 100 neurostimulation and cognition influencing applications were compared. The key result - There is no device currently available on the market which would be similar to technological features EDDIE has.
IP strategy covers two types of price investment plan situation – optimistic and pessimist alternatives. Sale forecast is based on the total number of hospitals in each of the four countries and the Czech Republic´s hospitals were also included. The total number of hospitals was the only accurate and common indicator for all selected countries. The total amount of sold pieces was divided into 5 years. Key result - Simulated optimistic and also pessimistic financial scenarios based on calculation from the total amount of the hospitals in 4 countries and the Czech Republic were still profitable.
The business plan was built on market research and expert’s insights of cognitive rehabilitation within the overall functioning in each selected health care system and also the market size. Strong similarities were observed between Germany and Austria, and between Poland and Slovakia especially due to missing (Poland and Slovakia) comprehensive national health strategy with traumatic brain injury problematic, where cognitive rehabilitation interventions belong into. To get on the western market strong clinical evidence as support is highly required.
As a result of FS, we could see the chance for the first international entrance in Poland because it’s a large and fast-developing market where rules and requirements for evidential support are not that strong as in Germany or Austria. Future market analysis of other well established European countries and regions in neurorehabilitation such as Denmark, Sweden or Finland is highly required.
