Telerehabilitation Technology

Abstract

Due to physical and cognitive deficits, it is often difficult and costly for individuals who have suffered a stroke to access on-site neurorehabilitation. Telerehabilitation offers the opportunity to improve the rehabilitation process as it can provide intensive supervised rehabilitation in the home environment. The term telerehabilitation refers to the provision of therapeutic services at a distance, enabled by electronic telecommunication and information technologies. Services are provided through a variety of technical systems with different purposes and capabilities. This chapter provides an overview of technical solutions for providing telerehabilitation services to treat the main consequences of stroke, namely paresis of the upper and lower extremities, and communication difficulties. We describe the communication tools, sensor technologies, virtual reality systems, and robots for service delivery and explore the facilitators and barriers to successful implementation. Evidence is summarized in the context of teleassessment, telemonitoring, and teletherapy.