Applications of Computer Vision and Smart Sensors Technology in Rehabilitation

Dear Colleagues,

Occupational and physical therapy provide therapy to rehabilitation patients with cognitive and motor impairments due to trauma and diseases. Most rehabilitation programs prescribe exercises that are tailored to the individual’s therapeutic goals and the severity of the impairment.  They are typically repeated over a period of time, and should be performed with sufficient intensity and compliance to be effective. They require some form of professional monitoring of the patient’s movements throughout therapy, as well as the assessment of performance and provision of feedback. This process is time-consuming for medical and allied health professionals, and often requires either continued hospitalization (in-patient) or recurring visits by the patient (ambulatory or out-patient).

The goal of computer-enhanced methods in the field of rehabilitation is to reduce the load on the professional while maintaining effective, personalized patient rehabilitation. Directions in this field include remote monitoring, automatic assessment of motion, automated guidance and feedback, and personalization (adapting the rehabilitation programing to a specific patient). These may exploit various sensors ranging from video, RGB and depth cameras to on-body sensors and wearable sensors. These methods allow the patient to perform rehabilitation tasks with less external intervention, albeit with active monitoring by the professional. Additional goals of computer-enhanced rehabilitation include ensuring patient safety while promoting motivation and engagement to ensure adherence to therapy.

AR/VR-based exercises enable the rehabilitation system to generate more engaging cognitive-motor tasks, which can be specifically tailored to the patient’s abilities and interests.

This Special Issue focusses on the application of state-of-the-art, computer-based technologies for rehabilitation, including (but not limited to) wearable sensors, machine vision, remote monitoring, adaptation and personalization technologies applied to rehabilitation.

Prof. Dr. Ilan Shimshoni
Prof. Dr. Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss
Prof. Dr. Tsvi Kuflik
Prof. Dr. Hagit Hel-Or
Guest Editors

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