Digital Technology Use in Canadian Stroke Rehabilitation

Post-stroke care in Canada can be difficult to access due to frailty, loss of independence, driving restrictions, decreased mobility and cognitive decline. In an effort to make health care more efficient, timely, and accessible for all, the Kingston Health Sciences Centre stroke prevention clinic completed a six-month pilot study. The aim of this study is to "assess the feasibility and logistics of implementing telehealth and Evisits in stroke prevention clinic for seniors.

Appireddy, R., Khan, S., Leaver, C., Martin, C., Jin, A., Durafourt, B. A., & Archer, S. L. (2019). Home Virtual Visits for Outpatient Follow-Up Stroke Care: Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(10), e13734.https://doi.org/10.2196/13734

Activity Assistant is a portable, autonomous biofeedback system that provides real-time feedback while ABI/TBI patients perform functional activities. It provides a record of patient performance on different ADLs for assessment and ongoing monitoring. This allows occupational therapists and physicians to quantify progress toward treatment goals.  Battelle has developed a beta version of the device and is currently testing it with moderate-to-severe ABI patients in a small feasibility study at The Ohio State University Medical Center. 

A Revolutionary Rehabilitation Technology for Acquired Brain Injury. (n.d.). Inside Battelle. https://inside.battelle.org/blog-details/a-revolutionary-rehabilitation-technology-for-acquired-brain-injury

In the context of specialist services such as neurosurgery, which remain heavily centralized in urban settings, clinicians often have limited or no regular access to patients after discharge. Remote Follow Up Technologies (FUT) may provide patients access to a specialist who would otherwise require travel to an urban setting. In this article Smith discusses the use of FUT and how they can be of benefit to improving post-discharge outcomes in rural settings.(2022)

Smith, B. G., Tumpa, S., Mantle, O., Whiffin, C. J., Mee, H., Solla, D. J. F., Paiva, W. S., Newcombe, V. F. J., Kolias, A. G., & Hutchinson, P. J. (2022). Remote Follow-Up Technologies in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review. Journal of Neurotrauma, 39(19-20), 1289–1317. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2022.0138

In this video motion-based rehab games are used at  FLENI, a leading Neurology and Neurosurgery hospital in Argentina.  The game is part of a project called EVREST, Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Exercises in Stroke Rehabilitation. It's being simultaneously tested in Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Peru and the United States. 

Motion-controlled games revolutionize patient rehabilitation. (2014, January 13). Associated Press.