The digital rehab therapist crossing borders

On August 22, an unusual "rehabilitation therapist" arrived at the Clinical Emergency Hospital in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Combining 3D vision and AI-powered motion recognition, the Digital Rehabilitation Therapist (DRT) can detect subtle movements deviations from leg raises to knee bends.

It draws on a database of more than 100,000 rehabilitation cases from Peking University Third Hospital, bringing movement assessment, rehabilitation prescriptions and training guidance into a single digital system.

It was donated by China to Kyrgyzstan.

Santa Beknazarova, head of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation of the Clinical Emergency Hospital, stood beside her new digital "colleague" and demonstrated how it works.

"When a movement is not performed correctly, the device shows a red or yellow light.

When it is done correctly, the light turns green," she said.

She hopes the system will help doctors develop more precise exercise plans for patients and allow more people to access them on their phones.

Trauma care and post-injury rehabilitation remain major challenges in Kyrgyzstan.

A new National Center of Traumatology and Orthopedics is under construction in Bishkek, an initiative promoted by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and is set to open by year's end.

The DRT will also be relocated there.

Academician Sabyrbek Dzhumabekov, director of the National Center of Traumatology and Orthopedics in Kyrgyzstan, estimates the device will serve at least 20 patients a day, including those with spinal and major joint injuries, post-operative patients and athletes in the recovery phase.

More than a decade of medical cooperation Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and one of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries.

Medical cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan goes back more than a decade.