The eHAB® telehealth system, a virtual rehabilitation clinic developed by University of Queensland researchers, is helping treat patients in remote and regional areas of Australia. The system, from UniQuest, and NeoRehab Pty Ltd, was developed over 11 years ago by UQ’s Telerehabilitation Research Unit co-directors, Trevor Russell, PhD, and professor Deborah Theodoros, PhD.

"Healthcare providers are genuinely excited about eHAB because, finally, there’s a clinically proven technology they can use to deliver quality, and in some cases better, care via the Internet for physiotherapy, audiology, speech therapy, and occupational therapy," Russell said. "In Australia, it can be frustratingly difficult to treat regional, remote and even house-bound urban patients with conventional face-to-face consultations because the distances are just too large and we don’t have enough medical staff."

Russell hopes the technology will be adopted internationally. NeoRehab is in the final stages of developing the eHAB system for large-scale production.

"The eHAB system and its advanced software tools are proven in the field. Upgrading the current hardware to make it smaller, more portable and cheaper for customers is the next step, along with actively marketing the system, and securing regulatory approval for key markets such as the US," Russell said.

[Source: UniQuest Pty Ltd via Medical News Today]