SMART Arm wins CA grant for limb rehab device

A medical device start-up co-founded by James Cook University (JCU) has secured a $200,000 Commercialisation Australia grant for SMART Arm, its upper limb rehabilitation device.

SMART Arm Pty Ltd was founded by JCU and UniQuest - the University of Queensland’s commercialisation outfit - to help commercialise research from JCU’s Dr Ruth Barker and her team.

The SMART (Sensory-Motor Active Rehabilitation Training) Arm is designed to help stroke survivors with upper limb weakness recover function. It gives feedback on performance through an interactive computer program and provides incremental increases in load and training time.

JCU Manager of Innovation and Commercialisation Dr Andrew Leech said securing the CA grant was “the last piece necessary to ensure that we could get the SMART Arm on the market”.

The grant money will be used to develop a fourth-generation prototype of the device that will meet the requirements for a TGA listing. The redesign and manufacture will be conducted at the Gold Coast’s MEXX Engineering.

SMART Arm hopes to be able to make the device commercially available in Australia within the next 18 months.

Clinical trials of earlier prototypes suggest that training with SMART Arm can increase arm function by 50% in four weeks, compared to nine weeks of standard rehabilitation.

SMART Arm last year secured founding investment funding from Townsville Mackay Medicare Local (TMML).

“Having TMML as a partner has been a huge bonus; they have not only helped fund the project, but have offered insight into the development from the perspective of a rehabilitation service deliverer,” Leech said.

Photo credit: Astaria Jayne Photography