「リハビリルネッサンス研究会」による産官学連携のリハビリテーション機器開発―医療従事者ニーズを優先した医工連携─

Developing rehabilitation equipment through cooperating with industry, government, and academia via the Rehabilitation Renaissance Study Group: Medicine and engineering collaboration focusing on the needs of health care personnel

要旨：リハビリルネッサンス研究会は名古屋工業大学に事務局を置く医工連携団体であり，リハビリテーション機器の開発に取り組んでいる．第一筆者は，この研究会の開発チームに企画の段階から参加し，医療従事者のニーズを優先した機器開発となるように力を注いでいる．開発チームは，産官学の三領域から構成され，連携しながら機器開発を行っている．研究会全体では現在，6種類の機器開発に着手しており，第一筆者は，簡易上肢反復訓練ロボット，手指伸展アシストスプリント，立ち上がり訓練支援ロボットの開発に取り組んでいる．ニーズを優先した機器開発は，使用者が求める性能を有する機器ができる有効な開発手段であると第一筆者は感じている．

　The Rehabilitation Renaissance Study Group was established at the Nagoya Institute of Technology to promote collaboration between medicine and engineering for the development of rehabilitation equipment. The first author has participated in the development team of the study group from the planning stage and is working on developing equipment that places a priority on the needs of health care personnel. The development team includes members from industry, government, and academia who are collaborating on equipment development. At present, the study group has launched six types of rehabilitation equipment and is working towards commercializing these items. The first author is developing a simple repeated training support robot for upper limbs, a finger extension-assisting splint, and a robot to support standing-up training. A development method that prioritizes the needs of healthcare personnel is likely to be effective for producing equipment with functions required by users.