Soča University Rehabilitation Institute

The Soča University Rehabilitation Institute of The Republic of Slovenia is the most important Slovene medical institution providing comprehensive medical, psychosocial and professional rehabilitation for adults and children with defects of the central and peripheral nervous system, movement-related structures and functions, as well as patients with chronic pain and cancer. Our mission is to provide top medical care and ensure the well-being of patients taken care of by friendly and highly qualified staff.

• comprehensive rehabilitation of adults and children,
• manufacture and advice in selecting technical aids for people with various defects and limitations.

• accidental brain injury,
• cerebral palsy,
• myelomeningocele,
• acquired spinal cord damage,
• other diseases of the central nervous system,
• peripheral nervous system disorders,
• muscular and neuromuscular diseases,
• congenital and acquired amputations,
• joint and skeletal system injuries and disorders.

• specialist consults,
• assessment and diagnostics of movement (kinesiology diagnostics – walk, posture and balance measurements, isokinetic dynamometry) and movement-related structures (US of the muscular and skeletal system),
• neurophysiological (EMG, EEG, SEP, MEP, sensorimetry) and internal functional diagnostics (identification of peripheral vascular disease or venous disorders, stress testing, ergospirometry, cardiovascular ultrasound, and respiratory function testing),
• diagnostics and treatment of spasticity and pain,
• diagnostics of sacral functions, and
• psychological diagnostics and treatment.

The advantage of rehabilitation at the Soča University Rehabilitation Institute is the comprehensive treatment of patients in multi-disciplinary teams. Based on their findings, doctors with different specializations, physical therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, speech therapists, psychotherapists, bachelors of engineering in othrotics and prosthetics, as well as other experts in cooperation define the short- and long-term goals, and programme of rehabilitation.

The rehabilitation programme is carried out by highly trained professionals using state-of-the-art technological equipment. The technological equipment of the University Rehabilitation Institute is partly based on robotics developed at our own research centre or purchased from the most established global manufacturers.

Our rehabilitation engineering services include providing patients with technical aids and technological solutions (information, demonstration, testing, individual manufacture, adjustment, application, learning, verifying), in order to improve their functioning and integration in the social environment.

At the IRIS Home – a demo apartment, various aids and technological solutions
can be seen and tested, which help patients achieve independent and safe living in their home environment. The IRIS Home is also equipped with state-of-the-art communication technology adapted to different types and levels of disability.

We also assess and perform the necessary individual adjustments of computer peripherals for people with severe disabilities, thereby training them in the modern methods of communication, education, work, and remote care using electronic media.

Our experts advise patients on the necessary conversions of their dwellings, and on the use of the necessary equipment – state-of-the-art technology – in the patient’s home environment. Our Seating Technology Department manufactures, converts and adapts wheelchair seating systems for people with severe physical deformities. We use computer technology in manufacture (CAD-CAM system, sitting pressure measurement).