Welfare Technological Assessment Report

People with spinal cord injury in the cervical spine (tetraplegic) will experience paralysis of various degrees in both legs and arms and therefore not have the sufficient hand function to for example operate handheld devices. 

Tetraplegic people often rely on the help of staff and relatives whenever they want to browse the web, communicate online or make a phone call. Being dependent on others can feel frustrating and result in lower life quality. 

TubusOne™ is a simple communication aid that can be used for this group of people. In this welfare technology assessment, TubusOne™ is evaluated as a communication aid for people who have contracted tetraplegia and therefore have reduced or no function in arms and hands and thus can't use touchscreen devices in a traditional way.  

The purpose of the assessment was to test if TubusOne™, a low tech communication device can be useful for tetraplegic patients during their rehabilitation. The device was evaluated based on benefits and limitations within clinical relevance, economy, and technology. The test was done at Department of Spinal Cord Injuries, at Rigshospitalet. 

The most important aspects to shed light on were whether the solution increases the patient's independence related to activities such as online communication, self development and entertainment, as well as whether the solution is user-friendly and intuitive to use.

The assessment concludes that patients experience:

✔️ TubusOne™ as easy to use for all digital activities

✔️TubusOne™ quickly increases their independence 

✔️TubusOne™ increases their overall life quality 

For the benefit of the staff and hospital the test conclude that: 

- It requires minimal effort to get patients started with TubusOne

- TubusOne™ releases resources to the personnel, as they no longer have to help patients with digital tasks.