This invention is expected to solve the shortage of professional masseurs and subvert the traditional Chinese massage industry that relies heavily on manpower. Treating chronic pain with Emma creates a low-cost treatment alternative. Healthcare costs are high in some countries, and as the population ages, the need for physical therapists continues to expand.
Emma massage robot uses acupressure and physical therapy to specifically massage the back and knees. It is equipped with a touch screen and a hinged robotic arm with six degrees of freedom, which can move forward and backward, up and down, left and right, and rotate around three vertical axes. At the lower end of the robot are two soft silicone massage tips equipped with heating pads to better simulate human hand movements for repeated massage.
In addition, Emma is equipped with a variety of sensors and has diagnostic functions. It measures the precise stiffness of specific muscles or tendons, uploads the data collected from each patient to a cloud server, and then uses an artificial intelligence device to calculate the exact pressure to apply during the massage. Emma can also track and analyze the patient's recovery progress and generate a performance report so that the therapist can accurately understand the patient's recovery progress.
In Singapore, traditional methods of treating lower back pain include consultation, acupuncture and 20 minutes of massage, which generally cost S$60 to S$100. At the NovaHealth traditional Chinese medicine clinic, patients can undergo the same consultation and acupuncture, but the massage takes 40 minutes and costs S$68. While other doctors are treating patients, Emma can keep massaging the patient to maximize the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment. It is expected to be applied to other diagnoses and treatments in the future.
The third generation of Emma is the first product in the Emma massage robot series, which is one-third smaller than the first generation announced last year. It was developed by AiTreat, a technology startup incubated by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The startup, which is just two years old, recently received seed funding from venture capital firms in Singapore, China and the United States, including Brain Robotics, a brain-computer interface company from Boston. Emma has also developed in the accelerator project TAG.PASS of Singapore Star Innovation Agency SGInnovate. The R&D team will cooperate with overseas teams to target markets such as the United States and China.
Mr. Lim Jui, CEO of NTU Innovation and NTUitive, an innovation startup company of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said that using innovative technologies such as robots and artificial intelligence can improve people's quality of life, and Singapore needs to maintain its innovation advantage. "We are honored to provide guidance to the research and development team to provide affordable healthcare solutions to the Singapore market and alleviate the chronic pain faced by people as they age," he said.
A research project is being carried out simultaneously with the Emma project to measure Emma's treatment efficiency compared with that of a massage therapist.