About us

The Lab:

Polytechnique Laboratory for Assistive and Rehabilitation technologies (POLAR) is led by Professor Abolfazl Mohebbi in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal. 

The lab is housed both in the Polytechnique and Medical facilities of University of Montreal, and it works actively with clinical faculty and experts from university medical centers and hospitals around Montreal, Quebec. Specifically, part of the lab is hosted by the Technopole in Pediatric Rehabilitation at the CHU Sainte Justine-Marie Enfant Rehabilitation Hospital. 

POLAR is supported by the Research Chair in Assistive and Rehabilitation Technologies from the TransMedTech Institute, which aims to support the development of innovative medical technologies, train the next generation of professionals and make innovation in life sciences and engineering a source of wealth for society. 

Research Approach:

Our approach in research and development is aligned with the Living Lab approach at the TransMedTech institute which is about designing products and services, while making sure to put patients and the health professionals at the heart of the innovation process. 

Our Mission:

POLAR’s mission and focus is to research and develop innovative robotics and biomechatronics technologies and methods to help humans relearn, restore, or augment their neuromotor performance. 

Our research on Rehabilitation Robotics is focused on augmenting and analyzing rehabilitation procedures by using robotic systems. These systems are developed to aid various methods of therapeutic training and assessment of sensorimotor performance. We also aim to develop advanced Assistive technologies, robotic systems and Interventions to support patients with disabilities to perform their activities of daily living (ADLs) with more independence.

Our studies target various patients, from pediatric to elderly, with varying degrees of upper-limb or lower-limb disabilities. These patients include individuals with age related geriatric problems, stroke survivors, muscular dystrophy (MD), spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cerebral palsy (CP), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and other severe motor paralysis. 

Our Vision:

Our long-term vision and ultimate goal is to translate research findings into the development of affordable assistive and therapeutic systems that are able to support a large population of users with their daily activities and to provide effective neuro-rehabilitation intervention and technologies, both on the national and global level.