Smarter rehab

In today’s digital world, technology has a new role to play in increasing the efficiency of healthcare and reducing costs whilst at the same time ensuring that standards of care are continually being maintained and improved. Whilst innovation is core to healthcare, the field of rehabilitation is lagging behind, with its human and patient centricity making it more challenging to innovate.

But engaging equipment that can track outcomes remotely can support the self-management of rehabilitation and help people reach their rehab goals. Dr Paul Rinne is CEO and co-founder of GripAble, a smart mobile assessment and training device that connects to an app, to help people with upper limb impairment train hand and arm movements.

Technology which uses artificial intelligence (AI) electromagnetic therapy to help neurorecovery can reduce disability in stroke patients, new trials have revealed.

BrainQ is developing a cloud-based platform to map brain network activity using explanatory machine learning algorithms, to extract biological insights that translate into precision therapies. In a recent pilot trial involving 25 stroke patients, patients recovered 77 per cent faster from the disabilities caused by their stroke through the use of the BrainQ technology.

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) was first documented as a treatment option for dorsiflexion weakness post CVA, in 1961 by Liberson et al. Since then there have been numerous studies into the use of FES in upper motor neuron conditions and the NHS integrated FES into its services in the late 1980s.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released the following guideline; Electrical stimulation for drop foot of central neurological origin, [IPG278] in January 2009. The guideline states that FES can be routinely offered as a treatment option for people with foot drop, caused by damage to the brain or spinal cord, if the health professional considers it is appropriate.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) based method to screen medication as possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease has been developed in the US.

With new treatments for Alzheimer’s desperately needed, but numerous clinical trials of investigational drugs failing to generate promising options, the breakthrough from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) could potentially make use of what is already available.

A suite of apps to support people with brain injuries in developing their cognitive skills has seen a surge in demand globally during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brain Education Strategies Technology (BEST) developed the first of its five apps six years ago, with a new app or major update every year since.

A man whose frustration at the lack of cohesion within stroke care spawned the development of an award-winning app has now developed a platform to enable this revolutionary approach to be extended throughout the neuro sector.

Neuro ProActive has been created to enable a fully multi-disciplinary approach to rehabilitation, covering both inpatient and community care and involving patients and their families in the process. Through the app, therapists can use end-to-end encrypted messaging and video calling to offer remote services and patient monitoring - factors which were planned before the pandemic, but have now taken on new importance within rehabilitation care.

A leader in rehab tech has formed a new research partnership to help advance its globally-significant work into delivering patient rehabilitation.

Fourier Intelligence has partnered with Kobe University, Japan, to promote advanced rehabilitation technology and integrate group therapy into the clinical setting. Fourier Intelligence said the Memorandum of Understanding partnership will help to advance its global vision in promoting accessibility and adoption of rehabilitation technology. The research will focus on efficacy research on the upper limb robotics for patients, with the long-term aim that the partnership will collaborate on multi-centre trials that will involve Fourier Intelligence’s extensive global network of researchers and laboratories.

“Being able to stand, take steps and be at eye level with people was amazing. It was exciting and emotional.”

For patients who have lived with the effects of immobility for years - such as this patient, who has been a paraplegic for 18 years - the introduction of an exoskeleton to their lives can have truly life-changing consequences. “We’ve had clients who, through using the exoskeleton, can walk their children to school for the first time,” says Matt White, a specialist in neurorehabilitation and technology, and exoskeleton lead at PhysioFunction. “It’s a special moment, and psychologically it can be huge.

“Sat on elephant. Swam on turtle. Dancing in Tardis.”

While this may sound like something from a particularly crazy dream, for stroke survivors, this is a reality - or rather virtual reality - which is delivering measurable benefits to their recovery.

Through accessing EVA Park, the world’s first multi-user online world, people with aphasia across the globe are being given unique opportunities to re-learn and practice their speech, while also developing social connections and confidence. So while social interactions and venturing out to the shops may seem a daunting prospect in everyday life, in EVA Park, users can enjoy a carefree trip to the hairdresser, bar or disco, or even go dancing in the Tardis, should they wish.

Two pioneering robotics companies have formed a global partnership to develop new digital rehabilitation solutions.

HumanXR and Fourier Intelligence will work together to accelerate digitisation for advanced rehabilitation, integrating immersive virtual experiences in state-of-the-art rehabilitation robotics. The venture comes as the role technology can play in rehabilitation is more widely recognised than ever before, through the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in a significant shift to the use of telerehab and digital.