Climbing wall crowdfunding campaign for neuromuscular affected children at Turin's Children’s Hospital

A group of doctors and engineers from the Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital in Turin, the Politecnico of Turin and Milan and the University of Turin has launched a Crowdfunding campaign to build a sensorized climbing wall in the gym of the Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital in Turin. The wall will provide a tool of rehabilitation and neuromotor assessment for patients aged 6-16 years with functional limitations. Here are the details.

WHO ARE THESE PATIENTS?
Infantile cerebral palsy (CP) is a neuromotor disease characterised by irreversible damage to the central nervous system for different causes. CPI affects 1/500 births, with both cognitive and motor disorders of varying severity. No surgery can make a "forgotten" limb functional, while improving the mechanics and motor potential, if the patient has excluded the limb at the brain level. This makes early management essential!

WHY CLIMBING?
Rehabilitation should be as enjoyable and engaging as possible. The activity of climbing is one of the few in which one is naturally inclined to use all the arts. It also improves coordination, balance, proprioception, sensory approach to the environment, as well as muscle tone and motor skills.

A SENSORIZED WALL
Through the use of specific systems of motion analysis, it is possible to:
• Evaluate and measure the ability to: reach holds located at a greater distance, load a paretic lower limb, maintain the grip with the paretic upper limb, perform a given test circuit in a time interval and with greater fluidity, and much more.
• Evaluate and quantify the improvement of the movement range (ROM).
• Measure the force applied on each grip in terms of intensity and direction.

Preliminary university studies initiated through a collaboration between the Polytechnic of Turin and the Polytechnic of Milan have allowed the design and development of customized force sensors that can be integrated into the climbing wall without altering the configuration of individual holds and consequently without altering the movement.

BUT DOES IT WORK?
Worldwide studies of the effects of climbing in children and adolescents have shown improvements in overall efficiency and motor skills.

WHY WE NEED HELP?
We ask your help to purchase the equipment especially the sensors, and cover some of the costs such as data analysis, the wall, holds etc

To those who climb that knows how fun it is to climb and how good it is, to those who take care of small patients such as caregivers or health professionals, who know how important it is to entertain them during rehabilitation and hospital visits, to anyone who is sensitive to the topic, Thank you for your support!

We will share the results of our work with everyone, and in particular with other teams who want to set up this type of structure in their hospital or rehabilitation structure!

Link to crodfunding campaign: www.gofundme.com