A MOBILE phone app developed in Oxford which helps people recover from coronavirus by doing exercise has won Government investment.
HandHeld Health helps people to tailor an exercise program based around a specific illness they have had.
The app, due to launch in September, offers a cheap form of rehabilitation, but also collects data about the user which can be used to help health professionals understand more about the lasting effects of the virus.
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The app is just one of four projects which have come out of Oxford Brookes University which have won a share of a £40m Government fund.
Another team at the university are developing an app to monitor people's recovery from Covid-19 by measuring their walking.
Those researchers from the Clinical Allied Technology and Trial Services Unit (OxCATTS) are working with Bristol-based company 500 More.
They say their app can help healthcare professionals and patients by allowing them to track their own recovery in a quick and scientific way.
Work on the app is nearly complete and the team aims to start first trials before the end of the year, leading to a registered medical device by the start of next year.
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Software company Syndeo, meanwhile, will work with Oxford Brookes to develop an artificial intelligence app that monitors people’s emotional reactions and helps improve their mental health and wellbeing.
The app will incorporate insights from experts in organisational behaviour at Brookes' Business School.
Finally, Good Boost, a social enterprise delivering water-based rehabilitation programmes, will be working with OxCATTS to move to land-exercise to support people at home who have had their physiotherapy or joint surgery appointments altered or affected.
They will be able to create a personalised exercise plan.
The funding awarded to all four projects is part of a £40m Government investment to fast-track new technology and support the next generation of small businesses.
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More than 8,600 projects applied for funding of up to £50,000, with 800 projects selected from across the UK.
Professor Linda King, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Global Partnerships at Oxford Brookes, said: "The impact of the Covid-19 crisis has changed people’s lives and the society that we live in.
"As we now begin to emerge from the current lockdown and enter a period of recovery, there is a greater need than ever for us to drive purposeful digital innovation.
"These four projects are a great example of our mission to be at the forefront of innovation while supporting the small businesses of tomorrow."
Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, announcing the initiative, said the coronavirus pandemic had prompted a 'wave of new innovations' across the UK.
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