IIT Hyderabad-incubated BeAble rolls out rehab device Arm Able

BeAble Health, a startup incubated by the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad-based Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE), has unveiled Arm Able, an interactive rehabilitative device to help stroke patients.

Arm Able is a game-based medical device, which motivates patients to engage in therapy using immersive games, leading to an increased number of repetitions. The high number of repetitions reportedly augment the recovery of the arm function.

BeABle was founded in 2017 by CfHE fellow Habib Ali, a biomedical engineer and roboticist.

Arm Able is aimed at neuro-rehabilitation of stroke victims and motor rehabilitation of victims with upper limb motor problems arising from conditions such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and fracture, the Telangana-based startup said in a statement.  

The arm rehabilitation product is affordable, provides a full range of motion (ROM) of the arms, offers data-based quantified progress and recovery and tele-rehabilitation, the company has claimed.

“We are solving the need for an intensive and engaging, rehabilitation therapy for individuals with upper extremity motor deficit at clinic and home, which can minimise the burden on the therapists without compromising on the quality of therapy,” said Ali.

The startup is currently looking to sell its product to hospitals, physiotherapy clinics and rehabilitation centres as well as to individual customers on a rental basis.

CfHE was founded in 2015 at IIT-Hyderabad to catalyse healthcare innovation in India. The one-year programme at CfHE in healthcare entrepreneurship is dedicated towards bio-design innovation through a structured curriculum. The enrolled candidates are trained in analysis, solutions, and business plan development.

“This is not a traditional programme that awards a degree. We want to understand and address the question of what it takes to bring a medical product from an unmet need in the clinic to the people who wants to use it,” said Renu John, co-head, CfHE, IIT Hyderabad, and head, department of biomedical engineering, IIT Hyderabad.