Zhonghang Chuangshi Pioneers Smart Rehabilitation with Innovative Med-Tech Integration Model

On May 29, 2021, the “Conference on Modern Rehabilitation Medicine and Artificial Intelligence & Unveiling Ceremony of the Joint R&D Center for Smart Rehabilitation Technology of AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd.” was successfully held. The event was jointly hosted by the Xianyang Municipal Health Commission and the Xianyang Disabled Persons’ Federation, organized by the First People’s Hospital of Xianyang City, and co-organized by AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd. Established in collaboration with AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd. and relying on the Smart Rehabilitation Center of the First People’s Hospital of Xianyang City, this Joint R&D Center for Smart Rehabilitation Technology aligns with the development requirements of the Healthy China Strategy and addresses the challenges of population aging. By fully leveraging modern rehabilitation medicine and artificial intelligence technologies, the center aims to build an intelligent, efficient, and interconnected “medical-engineering integrated” R&D platform. It seeks to promote the development of rehabilitation diagnosis and treatment technologies across the province, enhance regional rehabilitation collaboration, optimize diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, and provide scientifically grounded, efficient, smarter, and more convenient precision rehabilitation services to patients in need.

Xianyang No. 1 People's Hospital is a large public Grade A tertiary general hospital integrating medical care, teaching, scientific research, health preservation, and elderly care. Seizing the opportunity of rapid development, the hospital has established a high-end rehabilitation center featuring smart rehabilitation, in conjunction with projects such as "integrated medical and elderly care," "maternal and infant care center," and "health training center." The Smart Rehabilitation Center of Xianyang No. 1 People's Hospital is currently the only smart rehabilitation medicine center in Xianyang City. It is a comprehensive rehabilitation medical center that integrates modern rehabilitation specialties, physical therapy, tuina and massage, pain rehabilitation, and traditional Chinese medicine techniques. Committed to exploring the sustainable, healthy, and innovative development of rehabilitation medicine in the era of "Internet + Healthcare," the center adheres to the concept of "smart rehabilitation" by introducing cutting-edge intelligent devices into the closed loop of patient assessment, training, and re-assessment, thereby establishing a modern smart rehabilitation center.

AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd. is the first emerging high-tech company under Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd. (AVIC) to focus exclusively on artificial intelligence and service robotics. Leveraging the group’s industrial chain resource advantages, the company is committed to building a leading brand of intelligent robots with independent intellectual property rights within the aviation industry. The company primarily positions itself to develop a comprehensive product portfolio in the fields of medical robots, service robots, and military robots. It boasts a robust independent R&D system, with technological reserves and a significant number of patents across 13 domains, including ergonomics, bioelectronics, robot control, mechanical structure design, industrial design, and cloud computing. Fully leveraging its aviation technology advantages, AVIC Genesis independently develops a series of intelligent rehabilitation robotics products. By integrating Internet of Things (IoT) and big data technologies, the company enables a comprehensive, bottom-up and outside-in upgrade of rehabilitation departments, helping them establish rehabilitation centers characterized by informatization and intelligence, and evolve into modern, specialized comprehensive rehabilitation centers.

The “Modern Rehabilitation Medicine and Artificial Intelligence Conference & Joint R&D Center for Smart Rehabilitation Technology of AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd.” was established in response to the Xianyang No. 1 People’s Hospital’s need to build a modern rehabilitation department with AI-driven features. By integrating existing domestic and international technologies and addressing current pain points in rehabilitation services, an intelligent informatization solution for the rehabilitation department was developed, targeting “interconnectivity, standardization, communication, efficiency, quality control, and intelligence.” Following the construction principles of “AI-driven specialization, comprehensive planning, phased implementation, prudent and steady progress, and practicality,” and leveraging the hospital’s existing resources and conditions, the rehabilitation department has undergone informatization and intelligent upgrading. The facility is equipped with internationally leading rehabilitation diagnostic and therapeutic devices developed by AVIC Genesis, including China’s first fully independent intellectual property-owned AI rehabilitation medical robot and an intelligent lower-limb rehabilitation training system, as well as a smart rehabilitation system covering the entire process and lifecycle. These advancements enable automation and specialization in rehabilitation therapy, while achieving automated, intelligent, and standardized rehabilitation management pathways, thereby facilitating operational efficiency.

In traditional rehabilitation departments, patient rehabilitation data are mostly recorded on paper, leading to significant information gaps in communication among department staff. Analytical decision-making often relies on empirical judgment, which reduces work efficiency among physicians, therapists, and nurses. The Smart Rehabilitation Center at Xianyang No. 1 People’s Hospital utilizes intelligent rehabilitation equipment, such as lower-limb rehabilitation training robots and intelligent lower-limb rehabilitation training systems, to conduct precise and quantitative training and assessments. By interconnecting rehabilitation equipment through the Internet of Things (IoT), treatment and assessment data are automatically collected and recorded into the departmental information platform, ensuring objective and efficient documentation of the rehabilitation process.The collected and recorded data encompass all records generated by physicians, therapists, nurses, and patients during rehabilitation treatment and assessments, as well as quantitative data captured by sensors in intelligent devices throughout the patient’s rehabilitation journey. This achieves standardization, structuring, digitization, and interconnectivity of rehabilitation data. Ultimately, through the accumulation of big data and advanced analytics, precise, customized, and efficient rehabilitation methods and knowledge are derived, enabling high-efficiency, high-quality patient recovery. Furthermore, features such as assisted structured data entry, intelligent form-filling recommendations, and smart sorting of search options reduce operational time for physicians and therapists, thereby improving hospital staff efficiency. Structured data and big data analytics also provide a foundation and tools for scientific research by physicians and therapists, helping to enhance their capabilities in research and educational training.

The “1+6+N Smart Rehabilitation Information System,” jointly developed by AVIC Chuangshi Company and Xianyang City, leverages a data-driven, intelligent platform to standardize, digitize, and systematize the rehabilitation process. It ensures comprehensive collection and documentation of all rehabilitation data, achieving 100% coverage.

The successful hosting of the “Conference on Modern Rehabilitation Medicine and Artificial Intelligence & Unveiling Ceremony of the Joint R&D Center for Smart Rehabilitation Technology by AVIC Genesis Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd.” aims to better support the cause of persons with disabilities and the development of rehabilitation services. The hospital and the enterprise will deepen their collaboration and development based on smart rehabilitation technologies, providing intelligent, interconnected, and convenient rehabilitation diagnosis and treatment services to departments and patients.

The Smart Rehabilitation Center, built on an intelligent information platform, covers the entire rehabilitation cycle from patient admission and treatment to discharge and recovery, implementing standardized process management to achieve standardized, precise, and efficient management throughout the entire rehabilitation journey.

Traditional rehabilitation treatment typically formulates care plans only for the period from hospital admission to discharge. However, rehabilitation is a prolonged process, and relying solely on in-hospital treatment and training often fails to achieve significant outcomes. To address this, the Smart Rehabilitation Center of Xianyang No. 1 People’s Hospital has established a comprehensive whole-cycle rehabilitation management system covering both in-hospital and out-of-hospital care. This system organizes outpatient rehabilitation management into class-based groups, providing guidance and supervision for patients after discharge. Patients submit feedback through check-ins via videos and images, creating a bridge for communication with physicians and therapists post-discharge. This approach strengthens the connection between patients and the hospital, helps reduce or prevent improper rehabilitation exercises, provides continuous professional guidance, improves rehabilitation efficiency, and extends the duration of rehabilitative services.

The acceleration of technological and industrial transformations, along with the cross-disciplinary integration of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and big data, is continuously reshaping clinical medicine. Leveraging corporate strengths to engage in deep collaboration that aligns with hospitals’ needs for smart rehabilitation represents a typical exploration of “cross-boundary integration and collaborative innovation” under the new engineering and new medical sciences paradigms. Intelligent integration of medicine and engineering will be an inevitable requirement for future development. Since its establishment, AVIC Chuangshi Robotics (Xi’an) Co., Ltd. has aligned itself with the Healthy China strategy, serving medical institutions, society, and patients. By leveraging the group’s industrial chain resource advantages and promoting civil-military integration—civilian application of aerospace technologies and industrialization of military technologies—the company is committed to building a leading brand of intelligent robots with independent intellectual property rights within the aviation industry.