Artist concept of a system of three Burt® robots. System alerts therapist as patient in middle begins leaning to the left.
Barrett Technology designs and manufactures leading robot and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (3rd from left) pictured with (left-to-right) Spaulding researcher Dr. Federico Parisi, grant lead Dr. Alexandros Lioulemes, and Barrett CEO Bill Townsend
New Technology to Aid Therapists in Patient Recovery from Neurological Injury
NEWTON AND CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES, July 15, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Today Congressman Jake Auchincloss toured Barrett Technology in Newton, MA, to announce the awarding of a $1.6-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance the Burt® robotic system. Barrett, a leader in medical robots, designs and manufactures some of the world’s most advanced robots and ships them across the globe. The award will be shared with Mass General Brigham affiliate Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to explore and develop a new technology-based solution in Burt® to support people with stroke and other neurological deficits such as traumatic brain injury and spinal-cord injury.
“Barrett represents the best in innovation,” said Congressman Auchincloss. “Through their partnership with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, they are showing the world how our community can lead the way in advances to science, technology, and medicine. I’m proud to announce that the NIH is recognizing and investing in their groundbreaking work that will change lives for decades to come.”
In the days and weeks after a neurological injury it is critical for a professional therapist to apply intense and sustained rehabilitation while encouraging the patient to maintain proper posture. The need for patients to receive these treatments creates many challenges for providers. So Barrett designed Burt®, an advanced robot designed to help make rehabilitation fun (or at least less tedious than weights and rubber bands) by negating gravity while gamifying therapy – anything from air hockey to solitaire – while quantifying progress.
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller observed, “The remarkable team at Barrett Technology here in Newton is transforming the lives of people recovering from stroke and neurological injuries. I’m honored to be here with our representative in Congress, Jake Auchincloss, to award this $1.6 million grant to help Barrett’s efforts to make rehabilitation more fun.”
However, the Burt® system does not yet help the therapist identify the beginnings of undesirable compensating postures that threaten to undermine therapy. Spotting the start of compensating postures takes a watchful eye and advanced training. It’s a full-time distraction for the therapist to monitor this aspect while supervising the treatment and encouraging the patient. And, if one imagines the use of two or even three Burt® systems working under the care of one therapist, the job of checking postures quickly becomes overwhelming.
To address this issue, Barrett will leverage deep-learning techniques of artificial intelligence (AI) equipped with 3D machine vision to help monitor each patient’s posture automatically during therapy, even alerting the therapist of the type of posture compensation in real time to help them record and correct postures promptly.
Barrett CEO Bill Townsend added, “We aimed our robotics and AI expertise at solving a real-world problem that touches so many millions of lives each year, most going untreated or undertreated for lack of resources.”
About Congressman Jake Auchincloss
Representative Jake Auchincloss is serving his first term in Congress, where he is a member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. His areas of focus include infrastructure, housing, the life sciences, and energy policy.
Jake was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a surgeon and scientist. They taught him to be a lifelong learner. From the moment he could read, he loved American history.
After graduating from Harvard College, Jake joined the Marines. He commanded infantry in Afghanistan and special operations in Panama. He’s now a major in the reserves.
When he returned home, Jake continued service as a three-term city councilor in Newton. His favorite part of being a city councilor was constituent services and communication. While serving in the public sector on nights and weekends, Jake led product development at both a Fortune 100 insurance company and a cybersecurity startup. He has degrees in economics and finance from Harvard College and MIT Sloan.
Jake lives in Newtonville with his wife, Michelle; their son, Teddy; and their Labrador Retriever, Donut. He and his wife are expecting a daughter in August. For more information, visit https://auchincloss.house.gov.
About Barrett Technology
Barrett, through its Barrett Medical division, is developing robots that help people recover from stroke and other neurological injuries including deficits after cancer surgery, traumatic brain injury, spinal-cord injury, and even Covid brain fog. These technologies have future uses across a broad spectrum including sports training, sports refinement, sports medicine, and networked exercise equipment. Today, Barrett is shipping its FDA-registered Burt® product across the United States and China and plans to begin expanding into other countries. For more information, visit www.barrett.com.
About Spaulding Rehabilitation Network
A member of the Mass General Brigham Health System, the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network includes Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, with a main campus in Charlestown the 2nd ranked rehabilitation hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report, along with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod, Spaulding Hospital Cambridge, Spaulding Nursing and Therapy Center Brighton, and over 25 outpatient sites throughout Eastern Massachusetts. An acclaimed teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and home to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding is recognized as the top residency program in the U.S. in the 2020/2021 Doximity Residency Navigator. Spaulding also was recognized by the 2021 Disability Equality Index as a “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.” For more information, visit www.spauldingrehab.org.
William Townsend
Barrett Technology, LLC
+1 617-252-9000
wt@barrett.com
Burt Overview
