Rehabilitation engineering

The most welcome technical achievements in life science are the ones that enhance well-being or restore impaired or lost biological functions. Rehabilitation engineering is a research field that has devoted its full spectrum of efforts to compensate for malfunctions and disorders in human biological systems. This includes the development of devices for the rehabilitation of neural disorders which are termed neural prostheses. Neural prostheses directly interface with the central and peripheral nervous system. The most commonly known neural prosthesis is the cardiac pacemaker, which has existed for more than 30 years. A variety of other lesser known devices have been developed to partially restore neural functions in disabled people. 

The appearance of a prosthetic device may have a large effect on some patients. If it looks good, they will accept it more readily and perhaps have more confidence in its use. Explain how a rehabilitation engineer might improve the appearance of a prosthetic device. 

Therapeutic and rehabilitation procedures and devices (rehabilitation engineering)... 

Center for Rehabilitation Neuroscience and Rehabilitation Engineering The Biodesign Institute Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona... 

Rehabilitation Engineering, Science, and Technology Charles J. Robinson. 67-1... 

Measurement Tools and Processes in Rehabilitation Engineering George V. Kondraske. 73-1... 

Rehabilitation Engineering Technologies Principles of Application Douglas Hobson, Elaine Trefler. 74-1... 

A biomedical control system that utilizes a neurophysiologically-based approach has been developed for use in Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation (FNS) systems [Abbas, 1995 Abbas and Chizeck, 1995). FNS is a rehabilitation engineering technique that uses computer-controlled electrical stimuli to activate paralyzed muscle. The task of a control system is to determine appropriate stimulation levels to generate a given movement or posture. The neural network control system utilizes a block diagram structure that is based on hierarchical models of the locomotor control system. It also utilizes a heterogenous network of neurons, some of which are capable of endogenous oscillation. This network has been shown to provide rapid adaptation of the control system parameters [Abbas and Chizeck, 1995 Abbas and Triolo, 1997] and has been shown to exhibit modulation of reflex responses [Abbas, 1995]. 

For occasional journal articles on biomedical applications of neural networks, the reader is referred to IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, and the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. 

IEEE Transactions on Neural Engineering and Rehabilitation Engineering, IEEE Press. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, IEEE Press. 

In this section of the handbook, we focus only on applications of rehabilitation engineering. The concepts of rehabflitation engineering, rehabilitation science, and rehabilitation technology are outHned in Chapter 67. Chapter 69 discusses the importance of personal mobility and various wheeled modes of transportation (wheelchairs, scooters, cars, vans, and public conveyances). Chapter 70 looks at other non-wheeled ways to enhance mobility and physical performance. Chapter 71 covers techniques available to augment sensory impairments or to provide a substitute to input sensory information. Conversely, Chapter 72 looks at the output side. 

Robinson, C.J., 1993. Rehabilitation engineering — an editorial, IEEE Trans. Rehab. Eng., 1 1-2. 

A rehabilitation engineer asks three key questions Can a diminished function or sense be successfully augmented Is there a substitute way to return the function or to restore a sense And is the solution appropriate and cost-effective These questions give rise to two important rehabilitation concepts orthot-ics and prosthetics. An orthosis is an appliance that aids an existing function. A prosthesis provides a substitute. 

Technology transfer in the rehabilitation arena is difficult, due to the limited and fragmented market. Advances in rehabilitation engineering are often piggybacked onto advances in commercial electronics. For instance, the exciting developments in text-to-speech and speech-to-text devices mentioned above are being driven by the commercial marketplace, and not by the rehabilitation arena. But such developments will be welcomed by rehabilitation engineers no less. 

The challenge to rehabilitation engineers is to find advances in any field, engineering or otherwise, that will aid their clients who have a disabihty. 

Robinson, C.J. 1993. Rehabilitation Engineering — An Editorial,/ EE Trans. Rehabil. Eng., 1(1) 1-2. Stein, R.B., D. Charles, and K.B. James, 1988. Providing Motor Control for the Handicapped A Fusion of Modern Neuroscience, Bioengineering, and Rehabilitation, Advances in Neurology, Vol. 47 Functional Recovery in Neurological Disease (Ed. S.G. Waxman), Raven Press, New York. 

Readers interested in rehabilitation engineering can contact RESNA — an interdiscipHnary association for the advancement of rehabilitation and assistive technologies, 1101 Connecticut Ave.,N.W, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036. RESNA publishes a quarterly journal called Assistive Technology. 

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs puts out a quarterly Journal of Rehabilitation R D. The January issue of each year contains an overview of most of the rehabilitation engineering efforts occurring in the U.S. and Canada, with over 500 listings. 

The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society publishes the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. The reader should contact the IEEE at PO Box 1331,445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 U.S.A. for further details. 

Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA), Suite 1540,1700 North Moore Street, Arlington, VA 22209-1903. 

Brubaker, C.E., Ross, S., and McLaurin, C.A. 1982, Effect of seat position on handrim force. Proceedings of the 5th Annual Conference on Rehabilitation Engineering, p. 111. 

Cooper, R.A. 1995, Rehabilitation Engineering Applied to Mobility and Manipulation, Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol, United Kingdom. 

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