School of Physiotherapy

Faculty of Health

Research Update Feature ‑ Spring 2026

Lifting Independence: Dal Researchers help bring RAYMEX® to Life

RAYMEX-Lift-web
Dr. McArthur with 3F Research Group trainees. L to R Mirella Veras, Michael Kalu, Andrew Chaston, Dr Caitlin McArthur, Tessa Pelrine.
 
The School of Physiotherapy’s mission includes collaborative, innovative research that improves the health and wellness of the diverse communities we serve. Two researchers within the School have contributed to the development of a novel mobility and lifting device, called the RAYMEX® Lift, to support older adults in aging in place. The device’s development was supported through many funding opportunities, including Invest Nova Scotia and has recently been featured on the Dragons’ Den.
 
Developed by Axtion Independence Mobility Inc., the RAYMEX® Lift resembles a rollator walker but features a unique feature: a seat that lowers to the floor and rises again. The purpose of the lift is to help someone who has fallen and their care partner get them up off the floor again without needing to call an ambulance or injure themselves by lifting their loved one off the ground. Ultimately, reduced fear of falling and knowing there is a way to help the person off the floor can help keep people in their homes with dignity longer. Seeing the innovative and much-needed purpose of the device, Drs. Derek Rutherford and Caitlin McArthur collaborated with Axtion to further test and develop the device.


In 2022, Axtion teamed up with Dr. Derek Rutherford and the Human Movement Researchers in the Joint Action Research Laboratory to test sit-to-stand biomechanics associated with their newly developed “RAYMEX®” prototype. Through a successful funding opportunity with Invest Nova Scotia, Dr. Rutherford and his team of graduate students tested the functionality of the seat assist device to determine implications and considerations for the sit-to-stand transfer from various seat heights on older adults. The beauty of the device is that it not only provides fall recovery and prevention, but early investigations reveal it can be useful as a rehabilitation tool to train for rising from a seated position. 

The next collaboration was in 2023-2024, when Axtion teamed up with Dr. Caitlin McArthur and her trainees in the 3F Research Group to get feedback on the next prototype of the RAYMEX® from older adults with mobility limitations, care partners, and health care professionals (e.g., physiotherapists and occupational therapists) (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/rehabilitation-sciences/articles/10.3389/fresc.2024.1455384/full). The work was again supported by Invest Nova Scotia. This feedback helped Axtion further ideate the prototype, which they then tested with 5 older adults with mobility limitations in their homes. Final feedback from the in-home tests helped develop the final market-ready version of the RAYMEX®. 

The RAYMEX® Lift is now available to purchase on their website via authorized dealers across Canada, including Harding Medical in the Maritimes, and Axtion is working with Veterans Affairs Canada to pilot the RAYMEX® with 10 Northwood home care clients in the Halifax Regional Municipality.  

Axtion’s co-founders emphasize that their collaboration with Dalhousie has been central to the development of the RAYMEX®  platform. “Working with Dalhousie’s researchers ensures our decisions are grounded in evidence and shaped by real-world user and caregiver needs,” says Tracey McGillivray. “The iterative evaluations and early-stage inputs from the research teams were instrumental – and the global, viral response following our Dragons’ Den appearance shows just how strongly the final product resonates.”

Liam Maaskant, a graduate of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Engineering (Class of ’22), adds, “Dal played a major role in my development as an engineer, and it’s incredibly rewarding to collaborate with the university as an industry partner. We were so impressed with the capabilities of the graduate students involved in the research that we hired two of them into our engineering team.”

As Axtion continues to expand the RAYMEX® platform and develop new products, the company intends to maintain and deepen its collaboration with Dalhousie to ensure its solutions remain evidence-based, user-centred, and responsive to the needs of older adults and their care partners.