THE University of Strathclyde have launched a pioneering centre where researchers will look into new ways to help people recovering from strokes.

The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust has awarded the University’s Biomedical Rehabilitation Engineering Research Group a grant of almost half a million pounds to set up the ‘Sir Jules Thorn Centre for Co-Creation of Rehabilitation Technology’.

It is set to open in the Spring and will be housed in the university's Wolfson Building.

The centre will be led by Professor Philip Rowe and Dr Andrew Kerr. Professor Rowe said: "The funding will allow us to create an environment for rehabilitation innovation that will welcome hundreds of users for significantly increased, ongoing, meaningful engagement in self-directed rehabilitation.

"We have the capability and expertise to develop and simplify advanced rehabilitation technology so that it is accessible for the whole user community, including older adults and will put users at the centre of their own rehabilitation.

"The ambition is for our centre to produce the technology that will help support these people in their own rehabilitation. There is huge potential for industry, research and education and the leisure industry and we are designing this equipment with them in mind."

Dr Kerr said: "More people are living after their stroke than ever but the issue is they can be left with a disability. Some are obvious like a balance or walking problem, but often it's cognitive or a fatigue, so it's hidden.

"As well as researching physical rehabilitation with walking and standing balance, we will take a more holistic approach and also focus on cognitive issues like speech and language.

"Increasingly the long-term management of conditions like strokes is the responsibility of the individual, but our position is that people don't have the resource to do this. How do you retrain walking if you need supervision, or retrain your arm if you can't even lift it up on your own?

"Our centre will produce technology which will support people in their own rehabilitation. Our long-term ambition is the centre will act as a demonstration site to drive innovation and inspire adoption of a new rehabilitation model. "

Richard Benson, the Director of the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust, said: "The Trust's priorities are to support outstanding research and the development of new care models for people living with disabilities. We are therefore delighted to support the Centre, which builds on Strathclyde's position as a leader in rehabilitation science and biomedical engineering. The Centre is truly innovative and has the potential to deliver transformational, practical support for people recovering from stroke or living with other debilitating illnesses".