The care robot for bowel movement is scheduled to be supplied to patients in rehabilitation medicine, orthopedics, neurosurgery and patients for quarantine in need of bowel movement care or externally injured aged with uneasy movement and disabled. The wearable walking assistance robot is scheduled to be supplied as a daily life support for paralyzed patient such as peripheral nerve disease and muscular atrophy and an exercise support tool for a patient of geriatric disease.
▲ The care robot for bowel movement & The wearable walking assistance robot
The National Rehabilitation Center plans to actively promote the procurement of clinical data and the deduction of improvement matters through the utilization of medical rehabilitation robot. For this purpose, medical rehabilitation robots have been distributed around rehabilitation hospitals and general hospitals such as the National Rehabilitation Center to prepare the systemized clinical data
Examining the promotion schedule of this year's project, the national rehabilitation center shall finish the manufacturing of medical rehabilitation robot by November of this year and install robots from December to operate by July of next year. Moreover, the National Rehabilitation Center has decided to promote domestic and overseas licenses and permits for a robot for bowel movement care and a robot for wearable walking assistance.
In order to accomplish a successful project for medical rehabilitation robot, it is important to reflect the insurance cost. The project group for the distribution of medical rehabilitation robot consists of 'the insurance cost promotion supervising groups' around professionals of institutions such as Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, National Evidence based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Korea Testing Laboratory, and Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine. The project group plans to create a basis for the entry of insurance cost and official payment through the cooperation with auto insurance and industrial disaster insurance companies.
The National Rehabilitation Center is presenting an important project goal of medical rehabilitation robot project for the advancement to the overseas markets along with the domestic distribution. It has a meaning of finding a new solution to the domestic medical robot industry through the overseas exportation of medical rehabilitation robots. For this purpose, the distribution project group for medical rehabilitation robot in the National Rehabilitation Center has established and operated an export assistance cooperative group around KOTRA, Korea Medical Devices Industrial Coop. Association, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, and Korea Testing Laboratory.
The National Rehabilitation Center has enthusiastically promoted overseas PR and marketing for domestic rehabilitation robots. The Center plans to actively participate in exhibitions of 'Arab Health' in Dubai, H.C.R in Japan, 'Medtrade' in Las Vegas, U.S.A including 'MEDICA', an international rehabilitation welfare exhibition in Germany to introduce the technical skill of domestic medical purpose robots to overseas. The Center will perform an assistance activity for the discovery of overseas purchasing companies and overseas certifications, and international standardization in parallel with such effort.
Having a momentum of the distribution project for medical rehabilitation robots, a green light has turned on the industry of medical rehabilitation robot. An integrated service for nurse and care assistant has been implemented since 2016, which results in the increase in demand of robots for bowel movement care around 400 appointed service institutions. It is expected to expand to nationwide hospitals and clinics in the future.
A demonstrative insurance cost system has been also introduced and implemented in the area of walking rehabilitation robot. The auto insurance has been implemented since September in 2014, and the industrial disaster insurance has been implemented since July of this year. Such projects are predicted to act as a catalyst which will raise the recognition of medical rehabilitation robots and activate their distribution.
Later, it is expected that a new type of medical rehabilitation robot shall be discovered and distributed continuously according to the procurement of citizens' health right and the integrated service of nurse and care assistant.
