Department of Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty of Fukuoka Medical Technology Teikyo University
Professor
Mr. Yuji Oki?
After working as an occupational therapist at a hospital, he served as the head of the Department of Department of Occupational Therapy the Fukuoka Rehabilitation College. After that, he worked on clinical psychology at Fukuoka University Graduate School School and bone research at Kyushu University Graduate School, and assumed his current position in 2016.
Occupational therapists are specialists in the movement of muscles and bones during work, which is the basic movement necessary for daily life, work, and sports. A lot of my work is in hospitals, and I'm devising a program to implement occupational therapy according to the patient's condition.
Prosthetic hands are more expensive than prosthetic legs, so there are few users. Therefore, Dr. Oki developed a myoelectric prosthetic arm that was designed using CAD and printed using a 3D printer. We have succeeded in significantly reducing both cost and weight.
In addition, for patients who cannot meet their families due to the corona crisis, we will conduct online visits using VR. Feeling the great potential of digital utilization, create VR content that makes you feel like you have traveled to a tourist spot or your hometown. Students cooperate in filming the video.
Furthermore, the utilization of VR is evolving now. When we created patient avatars in the Metaverse and projected them, we found that even patients with missing one hand would naturally try to move their hands in the Metaverse. If we can create “motivation to move”, such as having fun or wanting to touch it, it is expected that the hurdles to myoelectric prosthetic arms and legs will be lowered.
In order to pioneer the future through the fusion of digital technology and occupational therapy, Dr. Oki's laboratory also conducts CAD classes. "Using the latest technology to create motivation". This is in line with the major theme of the SDGs, which is to advance technology while developing society and enhance sustainability.