Exoskeletons and AI for the Don Gnocchi robotic rehabilitation centre in Salerno
In addition to combining hi-tech and humanisation of patient care, the new centre will also be a clinical laboratory for translational research in digital rehabilitation and a training hub for young therapists
by don Vincenzo Barbante *
2' min read
Key points
2' min read
How can technological innovation remain human? This is the question that guides us, every day, in building the future of rehabilitation in healthcare. With the new Centre of Excellence for Robotic Rehabilitation (CoE-REHAB) in Salerno, the Don Gnocchi Foundation is inaugurating a facility that combines artificial intelligence, robotics, research and clinic with a clear aim: to restore dignity, autonomy and hope to patients. The centre is the realisation of a vision born over 70 years ago, the dream of Blessed Don Carlo Gnocchi: to create a state-of-the-art treatment centre in this place.
In the network with Pnrr funds
.CoE-REHAB is located within the 'Santa Maria al Mare' Institute in Salerno, a rehabilitation facility that has been a regional reference point for serious conditions such as acquired brain injuries, strokes and neurodegenerative diseases for over twenty years. Today it is opening up to a new dimension: it is becoming the node of a national network of research and treatment centres, thanks to Pnrr funds, within the 'Fit for Medical Robotics' programme involving numerous universities and IRCCSs. Thanks to investments in new technologies and data analysis platforms, the CoE-REHAB will systemise collaborative robots and exoskeleton devices for motor recovery, artificial intelligence for personalised monitoring of rehabilitation progress, and digital platforms for home treatment, telerehabilitation, and remote follow-up. The impact will be twofold: clinical and territorial. On the one hand, personalised care pathways for adults and children will be enhanced; on the other, it will provide an opportunity to enhance and grow the Campania region.
Healthcare needs innovation, but it also needs relationships. The Salerno Centre is conceived as a frontier place, where the most advanced technologies do not replace, but amplify the therapeutic relationship, combining science and proximity, engineering and care, efficiency and hospitality.
The importance of being in the South
.The development of centres with these characteristics in the south aims at implementing a system of quality services that is more sustainable, capable of reducing inequalities in access and health migration, enhancing the human capital of local communities, and creating new training and employment opportunities. In 2023, according to Agenas, more than 600,000 people left their region to receive treatment in other areas of the country, generating passive mobility of more than EUR 4 billion. Our centre is a concrete response to these needs.
'Therapy of body and soul' and 'Next to life, always' are expressions that sum up the mission of the don Gnocchi Foundation, where care for the person is translated into human relations, therapeutic quality and scientific research.
