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Telecare promises to deliver healthcare services more efficiently while, at the same time, improving the quality of care. The purpose of this paper is to challenge these promises by analysing the implications of introducing telecare in the rehabilitation of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Empirically, the paper is based on interviews with and observations of rehabilitation therapists and patients taking part in a Danish telerehabilitation programme. Theoretically, the paper draws on Science and Technology Studies.

The introduction of telecare alters rehabilitation practices in multiple ways. First, several new time-consuming work routines, carried out in collaboration between therapists, patients and technical professions, emerge. Although crucial in establishing and maintaining telerehabilitation infrastructures, this work remains invisible in evaluations of the programme. Second, rather than simply increasing patient agency, responsibilities are redistributed and negotiated in subtle and non-uniform ways. These negotiations make it less transparent where one responsibility begins and where another potentially conflicting one ends.

Evaluations of telecare technologies should pay more attention to work- and responsibility-related effects of introducing telecare in order better to account for predicted and unpredicted as well as desirable and undesirable socio-technical changes.

Using an ethnographic approach, the paper points to the discrepancy between simplistic political promises that telecare technologies can serve as tools for improvement, on the one hand, and the substantial changes in the organisation and management of healthcare observed in practice, on the other. Rather than regarding telecare as technologies of improvement, it is more productive to regard them as technologies of change.

This study aims to evaluate the relevance of telerehabilitation during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the prevalence of participation and activity International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains in a population with disabilities.

We perfomed an observational study of ICF files of people with disabilities pre- and post-three-months lockdown imposed by the government to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICF qualifiers such as performing the daily routine (d230), using communication devices and techniques (d360) and doing housework (d640) showed a significant decrease of the disabilities (p < 0.05). Instead, a significant increase (p < 0.05) in disability was evident in relating with strangers (d730); informal social relationships (d750); acquiring, keeping and terminating a job (d845); complex economic transactions (d865); community life (d910); and recreation and leisure (d920).

Telerehabilitation should not be regarded as home-based rehabilitation delivered through technology. The results show how telerehabilitation should be a functional diagnostic tool and monitoring of patients’ rehabilitation needs.

Through a comprehensive classification scale of disability, it is possible to redefine the term telerehabilitation.

Pediatric disorders, such as cerebral palsy and stroke, can result in thumb-in-palm deformity greatly limiting hand function. This not only limits children's ability to perform activities of daily living but also limits important motor skill development. Specifically, the isolated orthosis for thumb actuation (IOTA) is 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) thumb exoskeleton that can actuate the carpometacarpal (CMC) and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints through ranges of motion required for activities of daily living. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

IOTA consists of a lightweight hand-mounted mechanism that can be secured and aligned to individual wearers. The mechanism is actuated via flexible cables that connect to a portable control box. Embedded encoders and bend sensors monitor the 2 DOF of the thumb and flexion/extension of the wrist. A linear force characterization was performed to test the mechanical efficiency of the cable-drive transmission and the output torque at the exoskeletal CMC and MCP joints was measured.

Using this platform, a number of control modes can be implemented that will enable the device to be controlled by a patient to assist with opposition grasp and fine motor control. Linear force and torque studies showed a maximum efficiency of 44 percent, resulting in a torque of 2.39±1.06 in.-lbf and 0.69±0.31 in.-lbf at the CMC and MCP joints, respectively.

The authors envision this at-home device augmenting the current in-clinic and at-home therapy, enabling telerehabilitation protocols.

This paper presents the design and characterization of a novel device specifically designed for pediatric grasp telerehabilitation to facilitate improved functionality and somatosensory learning.

This study aims to leverage inertial sensors via a walk test to associate kinematic variables with functional assessment results among walkable subjects with chronic stroke.

Adults with first-ever stroke survivors were recruited for this study. First, functional assessments were obtained by using Fugl–Meyer Assessment for lower extremity and Berg balance scales. A self-assembled inertial measurement system obtained walking variables from a walk test after being deployed on subjects’ affected limbs and lower back. The average walking speeds, average range of motion in the affected limbs and a new gait symmetry index were computed and correlated with the two functional assessment scales using Spearman’s rank correlation test.

The average walking speeds were moderately correlated with both Fugl–Meyer assessment scales (γ = 0.62, p < 0.01, n = 23) and Berg balance scales (γ = 0.68, p < 0.01, n = 23). After being modified by the subjects’ height, the new gait symmetry index revealed moderate negative correlations with the Fugl–Meyer assessment scales (γ = −0.51, p < 0.05) and Berg balance scales (γ = −0.52, p < 0.05). The other kinematics failed to correlate well with the functional scales.

Neuromotor and functional assessment results from inertial sensors can facilitate their application in telemonitoring and telerehabilitation.

The average walking speeds and modified gait symmetry index are valuable parameters for inertial sensors in clinical research to deduce neuromotor and functional assessment results. In addition, the lower back is the optimal location for the inertial sensors.

Strokes are the most common cause of long-term disability of adults in developed countries. Continuous participation in rehabilitation can alleviate some of the consequences, and support recovery of stroke patients. However, physical rehabilitation requires commitment to tedious exercise routines over lengthy periods of time, which often cause patients to dropout of this form of therapy. In this context, game-based stroke rehabilitation has the potential to address two important barriers: accessibility of rehabilitation, and patient motivation. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper provides a review of design efforts in human-computer interaction (HCI) and gaming research to support stroke rehabilitation.

Based on extensive review, this paper highlights challenges and opportunities in this area, and discusses an architecture guideline for a game-based stroke rehabilitation system.

This study was an original study.

Motion capture system (MoCap) has been used in measuring the human body segments in several applications including film special effects, health care, outer-space and under-water navigation systems, sea-water exploration pursuits, human machine interaction and learning software to help teachers of sign language. The purpose of this paper is to help the researchers to select specific MoCap system for various applications and the development of new algorithms related to upper limb motion.

This paper provides an overview of different sensors used in MoCap and techniques used for estimating human upper limb motion.

The existing MoCaps suffer from several issues depending on the type of MoCap used. These issues include drifting and placement of Inertial sensors, occlusion and jitters in Kinect, noise in electromyography signals and the requirement of a well-structured, calibrated environment and time-consuming task of placing markers in multiple camera systems.

This paper outlines the issues and challenges in MoCaps for measuring human upper limb motion and provides an overview on the techniques to overcome these issues and challenges.