Today is officially European Stroke Awareness Day, and LMT is proud to announce the launch of Vigo, a stroke rehabilitation application designed to provide therapy to post-stroke patients.
This application was created by the Latvian company “Vigobot” and was made possible with LMT’s support.
Vigo is a tablet application, currently available on iOS. Patients submit a medical statement from their healthcare provider, and Vigo specialists assign therapy modules based on their physical and mental state. There are over 200 physical therapy and cognitive behavioural modules that can be assigned, which are all delivered via Vigo chatbot with the help of videos and interactive conversations.
The application is currently only available in Latvia, where roughly ten thousand Latvian people of all ages fall victim every year to the debilitating effects of stroke. But there are plans to release it globally, because there are as many as fifteen million people worldwide that suffer from stroke each year, according to the World Health Organization. LMT’s Vice President and Member of the Board Ingmārs Pūķis, shares this view, saying that:
I believe that the achievements of the determined developers of Vigo will gain recognition not only in Latvia, but also in the world, and, most importantly, will help to restore the quality of life for thousands of people.
LMT has shifted from a telecommunications provider to an innovations technology company. Through many years of R&D, LMT has developed a robust innovations department, which has been put to use by not only developing export products but also actively participating in solving challenges recently encountered as a result of COVID-19.
The release of the Vigo rehabilitation assistant application is part of LMT’s “For a Healthy Latvia” initiative which, during the difficult COVID-19 period and beyond, aims to create remotely accessible and digital medical sector services for all Latvians. Because the COVID-19 crisis has put a strain on the availability of physical therapy specialists, making VIGO available now means that the patients who still retain their mental and physical abilities can receive help quickly—those that do not have a decreased chance of recovery, if any at all.
Mr. Pūķis commented on the importance of such an initiative to make medical services remotely accessible;
We found it self-evident to support a technological innovation that makes it possible to address a health and social problem that has been snowballing over the years – making stroke rehabilitation accessible to those, who need it.
Vigo uses an artificial intelligence chatbot to rehabilitate post-stroke patients, very much like an advice-giving medical professional. The way the artificial intelligence chatbot does this is by providing patients with physiotherapy exercises that were compiled with the help of experts from the National Rehabilitation Center “Vaivari.” By assessing the degree and type of a patient’s disability, Vigo’s chatbot is able to tell the stroke patient which exercises to perform. It’s also able to motivate patients by talking with them and by gamifying the process of rehabilitation. This ensures that these patients not only receive a unique and personalized experience but also are more likely to perform these life-changing exercises.
Indeed, the Vigo rehabilitation assistant application itself is medically revolutionary in that it’s able to provide what’s otherwise a complex and labor-intensive task during difficult times, putting less stress on medical professionals. In addition to that, the stroke rehabilitation Vigo application is highly innovative, being able to offer fully-featured on-demand therapy, as it was developed by various healthcare professionals in fields such as neurology and psychology.
LMT is pleased to be the frontrunner in supporting innovative Latvian companies with the “For a Healthy Latvia” initiative to make Vigo available to all Latvians right now. Visit www.vigo.health for more information.