The Edinburgh-based technology firm has created the ‘Lifeglov’, which offers rehabilitation for the closing and opening strength of the hand. According to Bioliberty, the glove monitors key metrics related to upper limb mobility and can show improvement as the patient progresses through their rehab.
The Lifeglov is accompanied by a Digital Therapy Platform which provides the patient with tailored exercises to help develop natural hand strength. For stroke survivors, the glove helps carry out rehabilitation from the home. For occupational therapists, the glove is a tool to help manage their patients remotely and improve patient outcomes.
This new funding will allow Bioliberty to complete development of the trial product and finalise the development of its platform. The funding is also anticipated to fund the business through obtaining FDA approval and early commercial engagement in the US with rehabilitation clinics.
In the US alone, there are over 800,000 strokes every year, with 88 per cent of patients left with upper limb weakness. There is also an urgent need for at-home occupational services, with demand for such services forecast to outpace the supply within all 50 states of the US by 2030.
Bioliberty said its Lifeglov provides a solution that is ‘currently unique in the market’, with soft robotic technology making the product more pliable, comfortable and complementary to the upper arm whilst also generating useful data related to stroke recovery.
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The initial application is in the upper limb rehabilitation market, but Bioliberty believes that the technology will have broad ranging clinical applications including lower limb.
Rowan Armstrong, CEO at Bioliberty, said: “Our aim at Bioliberty is to empower every human to live a longer independent life by providing assistive robotics and rehabilitative technologies.
“The Lifeglov is a first step on this journey and the funding announced today will allow us to complete its development, along with our software platform, while preparing the runway for our US sales push.”
The funding round was led by Archangels, with participation from Eos Advisory, Old College Capital and Hanna Capital SEZC.
Niki McKenzie, joint managing director at Archangels, said: “Bioliberty has developed a highly effective solution for helping patients with hand weakness, with the potential to improve the quality of life for millions worldwide.”
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