Studies show Bixeps machine developed here improves muscle strength in seniors

Madam Chia Lu Ting, 71, was wheelchair-bound after being badly injured in a fall in July. But her weekly use of the Bixeps machine at the Care Corner Senior Care Centre in Toa Payoh East had her back on her feet within three months.

- Salma Khalik

All she had to do was to put one leg into the machine for 10 minutes on a weekly basis.

"I'm very happy. I now have no problems with the 15- to 20-minute walk home from the centre," said Madam Chia, who suffered severe bruising but no fractures from the fall.

She is one of the many seniors going to about 30 care centres here who have access to the Bixeps machine, which has been shown to improve muscle mass in older people who are too weak or frail to do vigorous exercise. Most of these centres do not charge clients for the use of the machine, which forms part of their caregiving.

The machine, which was developed in Singapore, uses low-energy magnetic fields to stimulate cells in the muscles, strengthening them.

Although only the leg is inserted into the machine, the benefit extends throughout the body, said Associate Professor Alfredo Franco-Obregon of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the primary researcher behind the machine.

He started work on the machine at ETH Zurich, a Swiss university, and finished it at NUS. He and cardiac surgeon C.N. Lee - the man who got him to join NUS - are two of the owners of QuantumTx, the company hived off to commercialise the Bixeps machine. The patent belongs to the university.

Ms Mary Wee, who heads the centre that Madam Chia goes to, said most of the seniors at the centre are aged 75 to 95.

"I noticed their walking patterns were unsteady, and they were at high risk of falls. I wanted to do something to help them."

She had heard of community studies of the machine and was impressed with the reported results - better mobility and balance, and less pain after 10 weeks. There have been several such studies, starting with 90 seniors in 2019.