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SilverFit Gets Recognition for Thera Trainer Software

SilverFit Gets Recognition for Thera Trainer Software images: RRR.NL, SILVERFIT 

The software for SilverFit's Thera Vital Bicycle has been recognized as the best new idea in healthcare innovation.

Joey van den Berg of the Rotterdam Centre for Rheumatism and Rehabilitation (RRR) has won the Care2Care Healthcare Award for his work on developing the SilverFit software for the Thera Trainer. The software allows 1 to 4 people to use active-passive trainers to play various games and compete against each other. It also makes it possible for users to cycle through different environments without leaving their rehabilitation facility. The jury was unanimous in selecting the winner, praising the SilverFit system for its motivational value and for stimulating social interaction among users.

The software for the SilverFit Thera Vital Bicycle was voted the most innovative idea among 23 different ideas for healthcare innovation that were submitted by nine different organizations. The bicycle allows patients to train and experience a real ride along the Euromast or the Erasmus Bridge and to be challenged and entertained by various experiential and game elements. The concept and film used for the software were developed by SilverFit and the RRR. The award comes with a cash prize in the amount of €1,000.

The Thera Vital is a wheelchair bike that uses a computer system to make it possible for patients to be virtually linked, to compete against other players, and race through mountainous regions. The concept was designed for users who must exercise as part of a rehabilitation program, with a special focus on the needs of seniors. It allows patients to cycle through environments that are appealing and inspiring and to be challenged by an intense workout without focusing on the pain and effort required.

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SilverFit is a leader in virtual rehabilitation system development, creating quality products for people who must maintain a regular exercise routine as part of their physical therapy program. The SilverFit system was designed specifically to address the needs of senior users, who must exercise to stay healthy or regain limb function in rehabilitation. As working out on most exercise machines used in rehabilitation facilities can get tedious and repetitive, seniors and people suffering from various types of impairment only train when they are supervised by a physical therapist.

What SilverFit has done to make rehabilitation exercises more engaging is to incorporate the most important workouts that train gross motor skills into different computer games. The system uses a 3D camera to track users' movements and it can track 1 to 4 people at a time. This allows patients to exercise without supervision. Therapists can set the difficulty level to suit individual patients, and the entry-level can be set low enough to allow any patient who can sit in a chair to do the exercise routine.

The exercises designed for the SilverFit system are based on those used in clinical practice and on the scientific evidence incorporated in the guidelines of the Royal Dutch Physiotherapy Association. Combined with computer games, the workout routines available with the SilverFit are much more motivational and stimulating, allowing patients to focus on the game and not the physical discomfort and effort required. As a result, patients train longer and perform tasks they would not ordinarily feel capable of doing.

To see some of the many applications of SilverFit systems in physical therapy and rehabilitation, watch the video.

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