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Rehab Techn PDF
Rehab Techn PDF
Rehab Techn PDF
The physical therapy profession can be central to ensuring the development and optimal
use of new technologies to reduce disability and enhance healthy living.
In preparing for PTJ’s special series on innovative technologies for rehabilitation and
health promotion, we were particularly interested in receiving contributions about
current technologies that have the potential to accelerate progress in physical therapy
and rehabilitation strategies, techniques, and interventions. We sought contributions that
used both theoretically and empirically based principles to inform and enhance inte-
grated interactive technologies and clinician-delivered rehabilitation solutions in collab-
oration with diverse end-users and professionals who have scientific, clinical, and engi-
neering expertise. Only through these interdisciplinary approaches can we advance and
strengthen the foundations of rehabilitation interventions and the seamless interface of
rehabilitation and technology.15
This special series presents cutting-edge research and perspectives that capture the
essential role that new technologies can play in physical therapy and rehabilitation
practices globally. The articles showcase research and case reports from established
authors, including physiotherapists/physical therapists from the United Kingdom,
Australia, Israel, Canada, and the United States. In addition to the global perspective
To comment, of our international authors, there is considerable interdisciplinary expertise across
submit a Rapid the articles, and the research teams include rehabilitation engineering, arts and
Response to this technology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, medicine, and computer
editorial posted online science.
at: ptjournal.apta.org.
• Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) for children with pediatric hemiparesis16
• Virtual reality following adult stroke10,17,18 and for children with developmental coordina-
tion disorders19
• A novel force sensor system for detecting progression in Parkinson disease20
• An iPhone exercise application in people with familial dysautonomia21
• A mixed reality or interactive neurorehabilitation system for stroke rehabilitation22
• Body-worn sensors for balance and gait rehabilitation23
As the physical therapy profession embraces the mobile health (mHealth) industry and
learns to optimally adapt it to the patient’s needs and expectations, we must be guided
by the evidence regarding mHealth technologies. Dicianno and colleagues26 describe
the evolution of mHealth technologies and how mHealth is used to improve patient
satisfaction, deliver care, and promote health and wellness—and they also discuss the
regulatory and funding challenges to mHealth. Levac and colleagues27 address the
development and preliminary evaluation of a knowledge translation resource to support
clinical decision making pertaining to the use of Kinect™ games in physical therapy.
• Levin and colleagues10 discuss how motor learning and motor control principles can be
exploited by VR training environments, provide evidence concerning current applications
for upper limb motor recovery in stroke, and identify the limitations and opportunities with
respect to effectiveness and transfer of learning to daily life tasks.
• Proffitt and Lange18 contend that researchers must take a progressive, step-wise approach
through the stages of intervention development using evidence-based principles, take advan-
tage of recent data, and use standardized measurement tools in order to design effective VR
interventions that can be assessed in carefully designed efficacy and effectiveness trials.
• Baran and colleagues22 present an interdisciplinary approach in the development and use of
scalable interactive neurorehabilitation (INR) systems for upper extremity management of
patients with stroke. They propose a coherent approach to INR design to facilitate the use
of the systems by physical therapists, to increase the number of successful INR studies, and
to generate rich clinical data that can inform the development of best practices for use of INR
in physical therapy.
Computer scientists already are “mining from time series human movement data.”28
Tseng and Cook use human walking data collected from volunteers to identify age
categories and to detect possible changes in the individual’s health condition. They
applied wireless accelerometer sensors similar to those described by Horak and her
team23 in this special series. Some time ago, Mulroy and colleagues29 used cluster analysis
for gait pattern classification of patients in the early and late recovery phases following
stroke. Horak and colleagues highlight the importance of obtaining impairment-level
metrics of balance and gait from body-worn sensors to better characterize how and why
functional performance is impaired. Furthermore, the use of body-worn sensors presents
opportunities (and challenges) for monitoring participation in home exercise programs
As these technologies become smarter, and as they are connected through wireless
communication, more possibilities than we could have ever have imagined will open up
to advance the science. There is little doubt that advanced technologies will be a major
player in the future of rehabilitation and physical therapist practice. It is fair to say that
we are nearing the end of the beginning!
Special Thanks
This special series is the culmination of the efforts of many individuals. The enthusiastic
support from Editor in Chief Rebecca Craik and Editorial Board Member Sally Westcott
McCoy, PT, PhD, is greatly appreciated. The efficient management of these manuscripts
could not have been accomplished without the exceptional contributions of PTJ’s
Editorial Office. Last but not least, we want to acknowledge the manuscript reviewers
(listed on page 298) who extended their expertise and scientific prowess to provide
valuable and constructive feedback that contributed to the high quality of these
manuscripts.
C. Winstein, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is a guest co-editor of this special series. She is Professor, Division of
Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, and Director, Motor Behavior and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory,
Health Sciences Campus, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California. She is a former PTJ
Editorial Board member.
P. Requejo, PhD, is a guest co-editor of this special series. He is Director, Rehabilitation Engineering
Department, and Associate Director, Pathokinesiology Laboratory, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabili-
tation Center, Downey, California, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Department,
University of Southern California.
References
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2 Tefertiller C, Pharo B, Evans N, Winchester P. Efficacy of rehabilitation robotics for walking training in
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11 Horak FB, Mancini M. Objective biomarkers of balance and gait for Parkinson’s disease using body-worn
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[DOI: 10.2522/ptj.2015.95.2.294]