ExaWizards Launched a Study to Improve Postoperative Outcomes by AI-enabled Rehabilitation
– Aiming at Reducing Complication Risk and Supporting recovery of patients with Gastroenterological Cancer and Developing a Support Application Using AI-enabled factor analysis –

 ExaWizards Inc., a company that develops artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled services to resolve social issues (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Ko Ishiyama; hereafter, “ExaWizards”), announces that it has jointly initiated a study with the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine (Suita City, Osaka, Professor Hidetoshi Eguchi), to verify the effectiveness of the use of an AI-enabled rehabilitation support program in a perioperative period on postoperative outcomes in patients with gastroenterological cancer. After the study period, the program will be evaluated for the applicability to a wide range of cancers as well as for possible use in cross-sectoral settings involving medical, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors.

 Currently, resources for perioperative rehabilitation such as qualified professionals and rehabilitation facilities are insufficient to provide patients with adequate amount and quality of rehabilitation. This situation has prevented perioperative rehabilitation from becoming common.

☑︎ Initiatives
 Therefore, ExaWizards has jointly launched a study with the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine to verify the effectiveness of a cancer patient rehabilitation support program (hereafter, “online cancer rehabilitation”), which uses an online support technology that ExaWizards has developed in the fields of brain and orthopedic disorders, in patients with gastroenterological cancer who have not previously received perioperative rehabilitation. In this study, rehabilitation outcomes are measured using the CareWiz toruto, an AI application for gait analysis provided by an ExaWizards’ subsidiary ExaHomeCare Inc. (hereafter, “ExaHomeCare”)   
 The online cancer rehabilitation enables patients to receive a required amount of rehabilitation online without hospital visit or stay utilizing AI-enabled analysis. While conventional online rehabilitation programs tend to provide patients with one-way instructions, the online cancer rehabilitation provides patients with continuous, interactive support by healthcare professionals. The company will also develop an AI-enabled factor analysis technology and a support application utilizing results of factor analysis.  

☑︎ Background
 Patients with gastroenterological cancer are susceptible to postoperative complications and at risk of chronic cardiorespiratory insufficiency. There are many studies reporting on preoperative rehabilitation including aggressive physical exercises in these patients aiming at enhancing their exercise tolerance. Moreover, it has been reported that preoperative rehabilitation therapy reduces the incidence of postoperative complications and leads to favorable outcomes such as improvement in exercise tolerance*.
*Clinical Practice Guidelines for Cancer Rehabilitation Second Edition, issued by The Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine. 

llustration of the Use of Online Cancer Rehabilitation

☑︎ Aims of and approach to the study 
 If the study provides evidence of effectiveness of the online cancer rehabilitation, a new approach to perioperative rehabilitation is expected to be established. 
 The study is jointly conducted with the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in patients with gastroenterological cancer who are scheduled for surgery after preoperative chemotherapy (100 patients are to be enrolled) to investigate the effectiveness of the online cancer rehabilitation in preoperative exercise intervention in patients with gastroenterological cancer.
 Patients with cancer who fulfill the eligibility criteria of the study are recommended to receive preoperative rehabilitation in the period between the determination of their treatment plan until surgery. Study participants are randomly assigned to either a group undergoing the online cancer rehabilitation using CareWis toruto (active group) and a group not undergoing the online cancer rehabilitation (control group). Patients in the active group will be informed of how to use the online cancer rehabilitation, including the contents of rehabilitation, exercise instructions and how to record their rehabilitation. Patients in the control receive a written rehabilitation instruction that describes the same preoperative rehabilitation as in the active group and record their rehabilitation in a paper report form.
 All study participants undergo body measurement, physical function test, computed tomography scan and blood test before and after preoperative chemotherapy and after surgery. Physical function test is performed before and after rehabilitation using an AI-enabled gait analysis. 

☑ Prospect for the future 
 After this study, the company will conduct an AI-enabled factor analysis to understand factors of effective rehabilitation in patients who showed favorable outcomes of the online cancer rehabilitation in the study. This analysis will aim to investigate the effects of rehabilitation on shortening of hospital stay, reduction of incidence of complications and early recovery of quality of life (QoL) in terms of rehabilitation strategy including timing, frequency and intensity.
 Once the online cancer rehabilitation is demonstrated to be effective in the study, ExaWizards will also develop a therapy application that provides patients with digital therapy reflecting the online cancer rehabilitation, aiming at spreading it to cancer treatment facilities across Japan, making perioperative rehabilitation common in cancer treatment and contributing to improving outcomes (shortening of hospital stay, reduction of incidence of complications, early recovery of QoL) of many cancer patients.  
 ExaWizards is planning to extend the use of the online cancer rehabilitation to other types of cancers than gastroenterological cancer, such as lung and breast cancers, as well as to postoperative period based on data and knowledge to be obtained from the study. The company also aims to create an AI-enabled medical platform that supports patients in better managing disease through physical therapy as well as diet therapy and medication adherence throughout cancer patient journey. The online cancer rehabilitation has a potential to be used in various field. Therefore, it is expected to be utilized in cross-sectoral settings involving medical, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors.

☑ ExaWizards ‘ technologies and products used in this study
・Rehabilitation support technology
This technology has been developed aiming at contributing to the improvement in outcomes of patients with brain or orthopedic disorder by providing online rehabilitation support that makes up for qualitative and quantitative shortfall in rehabilitation to optimize their rehabilitation.  

・CareWiz toruto: https://carewiz.ai/toruto/
 CareWiz toruto analyzes gait using four indexes based on views and papers of physical therapists who are experts in functional training. This technology is provided by an ExaWizards’ subsidiary ExaHomeCare(Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Satoshi Ishino), which develops and provides welfare equipment and nursing care services using AI technologies.   

[Corporate Profile]
Company name: ExaWizards Inc.
Location: 21F, Shiodome Sumitomo Bldg.,Higashi Shimbashi 1-9-2, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Founded in: February, 2016
Representative: Ko Ishiyama, Representative Director & President
Description of business: Industrial innovation and resolution of social issues through development of AI-enabled services
Corporate site: https://exawizards.com/

<Inquiries about news releases>
Public Relations Department, ExaWizards Inc.
E-mail: publicrelations@exwzd.com