JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies

Mainstream smart home technologies (MSHTs), such as home automation devices and smart speakers, are becoming more powerful, affordable, and integrated into daily life. While not designed for individuals with disabilities, MSHT has the potential to serve as assistive technology to enhance their independence and participation.

Cardiac telerehabilitation (CTR) interventions can provide accessible and affordable remote rehabilitation services. However, as cardiac rehabilitation (CR) primarily targets inactive patients, little is known about the experiences with CR of highly active patients (ie, recreational athletes or, simply, athletes) with established coronary artery disease. Consequently, existing CTR interventions do not address the specific needs of the athletic subpopulation. Understanding the needs and values of athletes is crucial for designing meaningful CTR interventions that enhance user acceptance and engagement, thereby facilitating effective rehabilitation for this patient subgroup.

Robotic lower limb exoskeletons have emerged as promising tools in the clinical rehabilitation of patients with lower limb paralysis due to neurological disease, stroke, or spinal cord injury. Identified benefits in gait function rehabilitation include improved gait function, cardiovascular effects, enhanced training quality, patient motivation, and reduced physical and psychological workload for therapists. Despite the identified benefits, the successful adoption of this technology largely depends on therapists’ user acceptance.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a cost-effective surgical intervention for painful knee osteoarthritis in older adults, but post-surgery rehabilitation access is limited. Tele-rehabilitation offers a solution, but existing models require significant therapist involvement and costly setup. A personalized smartphone-based automated program could be a cost-effective alternative.

Chronic pain in adolescents is a significant and growing concern, as it can have negative implications on physical and psychosocial development. Management can be complicated by the increasing risks associated with opioid misuse, highlighting the need for effective non-pharmacological interventions. Biofeedback is an empirically supported behavioral intervention for chronic pain that targets the self-regulation of physiological responses. Virtual reality (VR) is a novel delivery method for biofeedback that could serve as an engaging and effective platform for adolescents.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a chronic, degenerative joint disease characterized by pain, stiffness, and functional impairment, significantly affecting mobility and quality of life. Traditional rehabilitation, mainly through in-person physiotherapy, is widely recommended for KOA management. However, access to these services is often limited due to geographic, financial, and mobility constraints. Telerehabilitation has emerged as an alternative, providing remote rehabilitation through digital platforms. Despite its increasing adoption, its effectiveness in improving key functional parameters such as pain, strength, and balance remains uncertain. While previous studies have focused primarily on pain relief and overall functional improvement, a broader assessment of its impact on mobility and fall prevention is needed.

Clinicians and athletic training specialists often assess performance of single leg, weightbearing tasks to monitor rehabilitation progress and guide exercise progression. Some of the key metrics assessed are excessive pelvic motion, balance, and duration of each repetition of the exercise. Motion can be objectively characterized using motion capture; however, motion capture is often not available in clinics due to high costs and complexity of the analyses. Smartphones have built-in sensors that can be used to measure changes in body segment orientation and acceleration, which may make them a more feasible and affordable technology to use in practice.

Nonimmersive virtual reality training (NIVRT) can be used to continue rehabilitative exercise for stroke recovery at home after discharge from inpatient or outpatient therapy.

Patients undergoing heart surgery demonstrate impaired cardiorespiratory performance. Phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in people with open heart surgery (OHS) aims to reduce the adverse physical effects of cardiovascular diseases. Virtual reality (VR) exercise is now used in CR.

People with severe-to-profound intellectual disability and sensory-motor impairment tend to be passive and detached from their immediate context.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic condition that impairs mobility and diminishes quality of life. Despite the proven benefits of exercise therapy and patient education in managing OA pain and functional limitations, these strategies are often underutilized. To motivate and enhance patient engagement personalized outcome prediction models can be utilized. However, the accuracy of existing models in predicting changes in knee pain outcomes remains insufficiently examined.

Chest injuries are a leading cause of death and disability, accounting for 10% of hospital admissions and 25% of injury-related deaths. About two-thirds of patients with thoracic injuries experience complications such as blood or air in the pleural space, causing lung deflation and poor gas exchange. Proper breathing management, using tools like incentive spirometers, improves lung function and recovery. However, there is a gap in mobile-based gaming apps designed for lung exercise, which could benefit both the general population and patients recovering from lung injuries.