Rehab at home after hospital

Accidents or operations are often followed by long periods of rehabilitation, but a new international technology may now allow patients to complete physiotherapy exercises at home.

The technology – dubbed ‘telerehabilitation’ – has been designed to give future patients added motivation to do their exercises, allowing them to perform physiotherapy exercises at home, or when out and about and even during breaks at work.

Developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS in Berlin, the technology consists of an exercise editor, a physio box and a mobile sensor unit that connects to a smartphone.

The therapist uses the exercise editor to work up a training program tailored to the individual patient, increasing the intensity from week to week.

The patient can then run the program at home using the physio box which is similar to a mini-PC for televisions. The small computer boasts internet connectivity, a camera and a microphone.

Exercise routines are displayed on the TV screen for the patient to copy. The physio box analyses the data recorded by the camera as the patient does the exercises.

Beforehand, software is used to map each patient’s bodily characteristics in 3D and translate them into a biomechanical computer model. Once the data has been interpreted, the box sends it via the internet to the rehabilitation centre, where the therapist sees how the patient is progressing and can adapt the exercises accordingly.

Alongside measurements of movements, therapists need to know their patients’ pulse, oxygen saturation levels and, in some cases, readings from an electrocardiogram.

They record these vital signs, and the technology also has a mobile unit with sensors placed in a chest strap, watch or walking stick to measure the pulse, blood pressure or the quality of the patient’s movement. The data is then sent to a smartphone.

The therapist can set threshold values using the exercise editor; for example, if a patient’s pulse reaches a level that exceeds the limit set for them, a warning signal is emitted.

On the one hand, the mobile unit serves to complement the physio box, but it is also supposed to help patients in future to do their exercises while on the move, or out walking or during office breaks.

A field test involving a larger group of patients is expected next month, and the system could be ready to use in coming months.