The Second Annual Rehab-Lab Network day brought together organisations and professionals to share experiences, accredit new members and drive innovation in personalised assistive devices through 3D printing.

On Friday 3 July the Second Annual Rehab-Lab Network day took place, organised by the iSocial Foundation and aimed at promoting the autonomy of people with disabilities through the 3D printing of personalised assistive devices.

The event brought together current members, organisations in the process of accreditation and interested professionals, and aimed to share the main results of the past twelve months and to exchange lessons learned and best practices among the Network’s member organisations.

In addition, the meeting served to accredit 14 new entities which, during this course, have completed the training in the Rehab-Lab model and now become part of the network: ATADI, Fundació Hospital de Palamós, Fundació l’Espiga, Fundació Pere Mitjans, Fundació Privada AVAN, Fundació Villablanca, Fundación Valentia Huesca, Hospital de Tortosa Verge de la Cinta and TEB Barcelona, Esment and Fundació Kapacita, Hospital Maternoinfantil Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona and the Fundació Privada Nostra Senyora de Meritxell.

One of the highlights of the day was the showroom, where member organisations displayed concrete examples of 3D support products related to mobility and transport, health and sport, music and leisure, nutrition, personal care and management, household tasks, and communication and socialisation. These rooms generated great interest among the participants, who were able to ask questions about the design, materials, complexity or finishing process of the aids.

A round table discussion on the co-design process was also held, with the participation of Judit Conill, a therapist at MIFAS; Samuel Tovias, an engineering student at the Pere Mitjans Foundation; Armand Gouvy, a former patient at the Guttmann Institute; and Enric Cabello, a volunteer at Makers Lleida.

During the event, the network’s new entities were introduced, and awards were presented in various categories for the technical aids designed by the entities, which had submitted their most successful products as candidates. The participants at the gathering voted live for the winners in each category.

The awards for the most outstanding functional aids developed by the Network’s FabLabs were:

• Most innovative functional aids: Mifas Group, with a sock-folding aid, and Villablanca Foundation, with a 3-in-1 plate lifter.
• Most complex functional aid: Association Aspid, with an interchangeable key adapter and Fundación l’Espiga, with a guiding and accompanying handle.
• Functional aid with greater impact: the Aspid Association, with a mobile handle for gripping pots with one hand, and the Hospital Verge de la Cinta in Tortosa, with an adapted assistance button.

What is the Rehab-Lab network?

The Rehab-Lab network is a project coordinated in Spain by the iSocial Foundation with the support of the promoter group, made up of the Ampans Foundation, the Guttmann Institute, CIM-UPC and Avinent Group.

This European initiative of French origin has 125 Fab Labs across Europe, as well as a methodology and a support network for promoting the autonomy of people with disabilities through 3D printing.