MALMO, Sweden—Hexpol TPE and Icho Systems GmbH have teamed up on a therapy ball designed to promote cognitive and motor skills in a playful way.
The Icho therapy ball is made with an injection-molded outer skin, which houses the lights, speaker, sensors and electronics. Mediprene TPE was selected due to its soft-touch haptics and good light permeability, Hexpol said in a news release. Mediprene is easily cleaned and resistant to the most common cleaning fluids used in the health care environment.
The Icho ball reacts with colored lights, vibrations, sound or music depending on the application. The reactions are individually adaptable and the ball can be used by people with dementia and children, with a special focus on learning for people with autism, Hexpol said.
"We are very proud to work with the team at Icho systems on this project," Guido Heinen, a key account manager for Hexpol TPE, said in the release. "They are helping to improve people's lives and well-being. This fits with our aim to create materials that make a real difference."
Icho chose Hexpol TPE because of its material and the company's service, according to Samantha Scharf, Icho System's director of marketing and distribution.
"Service is one of the top priorities for us, and that's how we live with our customers," she said. "It was important to us to work with medical material, and we had the relevant prerequisites here. We were given in-depth information about material options right from the first contact. There was also a quick and good answer to further inquiries.
"In addition to Hexpols own product portfolio, the advice was always good and fast, so that the time to final production could be kept very short."