Rehabilitation Science in Practice Series – serie

This edited book focuses on the role and use of VR for healthcare professions in both health and rehabilitation settings. It is also offers future trends of other emerging technology within medicine and allied health professions. This text draws on expertise of leading medical practitioners and researchers who utilise such VR technologies in their practices to enhance patient/service user outcomes. Research and practical evidence is presented with a strong applied emphasis to further enhance the use VR technologies within the community, the hospital and in education environment(s). The book may also be used to influence policymakers on how healthcare delivery is offered.

Incorporating Compass Computer Access Assessment software, Computer Access for People with Disabilities: A Human Factors Approach provides the information clinicians need to know in order to provide effective alternative computer access solutions to individuals with disabilities. This book presents technology for individuals with physical, cognitive, and sensory impairments, and for older adults. The text covers text entry devices, pointing devices, switch access, automatic speech recognition, and web accessibility. The book draws on research from the fields of rehabilitation engineering, occupational therapy, and human-computer interaction (HCI) and emphasizes fundamental concepts and principles that remain true regardless of which specific operating system or product is being used.

The primary focus of this book is to educate the reader on the Matching Person and Technology (MPT) model and assessment process that will guide the reader on consumer-centered assistive technology assessment and outcome measures designed to be used for individuals of all ages and all types of disabilities. The first section of the book introduces the MPT and Matching Assistive Technology and CHild (MATCH) assessment process and discusses key documents that align with the assessments including the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health and the Occupational Therapy Framework III.The second section of the book focuses on the international emphasis of the MPT and MATCH assessments. At present, there are eight countries that are represented in this section. Each chapter includes information on the assessment translations (with access to copies if available or at least access on how to obtain copies). The authors discuss research on the use of the assessment within their country to support the assessment use. Lastly, a case scenario is discussed in each chapter to provide the reader with an example of how the assessment was used with an actual consumer. The last section of the book includes a focus on outcome studies in the areas of early childhood, education (primary secondary, and postsecondary), work, and functional independence. This section provides the reader insight into how to outline outcome measures within the MPT and MATCH process. There is an additional section on future works that includes a brief introduction to the Service Animal Adaptive Intervention Assessment.This book is targeted to the Assistive Technology Providers (ATP) and policymakers (health care, education, and rehabilitation engineering), the university student pursuing a career in these areas, and the consumer of assistive technology.

This edited book focuses on the role and use of VR for healthcare professions in both health and rehabilitation settings. It is also offers future trends of other emerging technology within medicine and allied health professions. This text draws on expertise of leading medical practitioners and researchers who utilise such VR technologies in their practices to enhance patient/service user outcomes. Research and practical evidence is presented with a strong applied emphasis to further enhance the use VR technologies within the community, the hospital and in education environment(s). The book may also be used to influence policymakers on how healthcare delivery is offered.

Geriatric Rehabilitation addresses the fact that this is an age in which individuals have increasing longevity, better health care, education and expectations of health care which present new, increasing and even radical challenges to health care providers. The care of our older patients in rehabilitation settings demands the broad understanding of the key differences in strategies to care for older adults. The combined skills embraced in rehabilitation and geriatrics are presenting unprecedented opportunities for both fields to make substantive and even ground-breaking improvements in the lives of millions of older adults who entrust their lives to us. Rarely in one’s medical career are such opportunities so evident and achievable. Geriatric Rehabilitation edited by Dr. K. Rao Poduri, MD. FAAPMR draws on a distinguished group of authors who are the front-line providers of care to the older adults. This book presents the full spectrum of the unique care needs of older patients who need the combined skills of physical medicine and geriatrics. It provides an easily accessible means of acquiring and improving these new skills for all those involved in geriatric care.

This book contains a comprehensive overview of all current uses of robots in rehabilitation. The underlying principles in each application are provided. This is followed by a critical review of the technology available, of the utilization protocols, and of user studies, outcomes, and clinical evidence, if existing. Ethical and social implications of robot use are also discussed. The reader will have an in depth view of rehabilitation robots, from principles to practice.

Summary Description This book is primarily a celebration of the qualitative work undertaken internationally by a number of experienced researchers. It also focuses on developing the use of qualitative research for health and rehabilitative practitioners by recognizing its value methodologically and empirically. We find that the very nature of qualitative research offers an array of opportunities for researchers in being able to understand the social world around us. Further, through experience and discussion, this book identifies the multifaceted use of qualitative methods in the healthcare and rehabilitative setting. This book touches on the role of the researcher, the participants involved, and the research environment. In short, we see how these three central elements can affect the nature of qualitative work in attempts to offer originality. This text speaks to a number of audiences. Students who are writing undergraduate dissertations and research proposals, they may find the myriad of examples stimulating and may support the rationale for methodological decisions in their own work. For academics, practitioners, and prospective qualitative researchers this book also aims to demonstrate an array of opportunism in the field of qualitative research and how they may resonate with arguments proffered. It is anticipated that readers will find this collection of qualitative examples not only useful for informing their own research, but we also hope to enlighten new discussions and arguments regarding both methodological and empirical use of qualitative work internationally. Features Encompasses the importance of qualitative research and how it can be used to facilitate healthcare and rehabilitation across a wide range of health conditions. Evaluates empirical data whilst critically applying it to contemporary practices. Provides readers with an overview with future directions and influence policy makers in order to develop practice. Focuses on an array of health conditions that can affect groups of the population, coincided with life issues and the care and family support received. Offers innovative methodological insights for prospective researchers in order to add to the existing evidence base.

This edited book focuses on the role and use of emerging technologies within the healthcare sector. This text draws on expertise from leading practitioners and researchers who either utilize and/or are at the forefront of researching with emerging technology in anticipation of enhancing patient outcomes.Emerging Technologies in Healthcare: Interpersonal and Client-Based Perspectives focuses on the role of emerging technologies in society and how it may enhance medical treatment, management, and rehabilitation of service users. It offers expert perspectives on topics covering emerging technological advances and how they are being incorporated into healthcare, but also critically appraises forthcoming implementation. The editors draw from recent publications and the growing narrative surrounding technological advances, notably telerehabilitation, virtual reality, augmentation, and mHealth. Subsequent chapters focus on these, coupled with other emerging technologies, providing detailed insight into how these can either enhance and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes. Each chapter explores the multifaceted use and application of each emerging technology, that impacts on diagnosis, treatment, and (self-) management of individuals. For example, can emerging technology really facilitate patient diagnosis, improve, or remove practitioner–patient interactions, provide sound rehabilitation, and treat/monitor mental health conditions?This edited volume encompasses an array of emerging technologies that will remain pertinent to caregivers, families, practitioners, service users and policymakers. This is not a text on emerging technology alone but on its societal implications, accompanied by ethical, altruistic, and moral examples for such advances within the healthcare field. It is targeted that this text will enhance and offer original discussions surrounding the interconnectivity of technology and medicine, rehabilitation, and patient care.

This edited book focuses on the role and use of emerging technologies within the healthcare sector. This text draws on expertise from leading practitioners and researchers who either utilize and/or are at the forefront of researching with emerging technology in anticipation of enhancing patient outcomes.Emerging Technologies in Healthcare: Interpersonal and Client-Based Perspectives focuses on the role of emerging technologies in society and how it may enhance medical treatment, management, and rehabilitation of service users. It offers expert perspectives on topics covering emerging technological advances and how they are being incorporated into healthcare, but also critically appraises forthcoming implementation. The editors draw from recent publications and the growing narrative surrounding technological advances, notably telerehabilitation, virtual reality, augmentation, and mHealth. Subsequent chapters focus on these, coupled with other emerging technologies, providing detailed insight into how these can either enhance and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes. Each chapter explores the multifaceted use and application of each emerging technology, that impacts on diagnosis, treatment, and (self-) management of individuals. For example, can emerging technology really facilitate patient diagnosis, improve, or remove practitioner–patient interactions, provide sound rehabilitation, and treat/monitor mental health conditions?This edited volume encompasses an array of emerging technologies that will remain pertinent to caregivers, families, practitioners, service users and policymakers. This is not a text on emerging technology alone but on its societal implications, accompanied by ethical, altruistic, and moral examples for such advances within the healthcare field. It is targeted that this text will enhance and offer original discussions surrounding the interconnectivity of technology and medicine, rehabilitation, and patient care.

This book provides a wide spectrum of readers with comprehensive but easily understandable protocols for the assessment and training of wheelchair skills. The Wheelchair Research Team at Dalhousie University and the Capital District Health Authority in Halifax (lead by the author) have focused on wheelchair safety and performance for three decades, as exemplified through the Wheelchair Skills Program. This is considered the top such program in the world. This new book is largely based on this program which has been accessed and utilized by over 75,000 people in 177 countries since 2007.

This book will provide an overview of the rehabilitation engineering field, including key concepts that are required to provide a solid foundation about the discipline. It will present these concepts through a mix of basic and applied knowledge from rehabilitation engineering research and practice. It's written as an introductory text in order to provide access to the field by those without previous experience or background in the field.These concepts will include those related to engineering and health that are necessary to understand the application of rehabilitation engineering to support human function.

The primary focus of this book is to educate the reader on the Matching Person and Technology (MPT) model and assessment process that will guide the reader on consumer-centered assistive technology assessment and outcome measures designed to be used for individuals of all ages and all types of disabilities. The first section of the book introduces the MPT and Matching Assistive Technology and CHild (MATCH) assessment process and discusses key documents that align with the assessments including the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health and the Occupational Therapy Framework III.The second section of the book focuses on the international emphasis of the MPT and MATCH assessments. At present, there are eight countries that are represented in this section. Each chapter includes information on the assessment translations (with access to copies if available or at least access on how to obtain copies). The authors discuss research on the use of the assessment within their country to support the assessment use. Lastly, a case scenario is discussed in each chapter to provide the reader with an example of how the assessment was used with an actual consumer. The last section of the book includes a focus on outcome studies in the areas of early childhood, education (primary secondary, and postsecondary), work, and functional independence. This section provides the reader insight into how to outline outcome measures within the MPT and MATCH process. There is an additional section on future works that includes a brief introduction to the Service Animal Adaptive Intervention Assessment.This book is targeted to the Assistive Technology Providers (ATP) and policymakers (health care, education, and rehabilitation engineering), the university student pursuing a career in these areas, and the consumer of assistive technology.

Summary Description This book is primarily a celebration of the qualitative work undertaken internationally by a number of experienced researchers. It also focuses on developing the use of qualitative research for health and rehabilitative practitioners by recognizing its value methodologically and empirically. We find that the very nature of qualitative research offers an array of opportunities for researchers in being able to understand the social world around us. Further, through experience and discussion, this book identifies the multifaceted use of qualitative methods in the healthcare and rehabilitative setting. This book touches on the role of the researcher, the participants involved, and the research environment. In short, we see how these three central elements can affect the nature of qualitative work in attempts to offer originality. This text speaks to a number of audiences. Students who are writing undergraduate dissertations and research proposals, they may find the myriad of examples stimulating and may support the rationale for methodological decisions in their own work. For academics, practitioners, and prospective qualitative researchers this book also aims to demonstrate an array of opportunism in the field of qualitative research and how they may resonate with arguments proffered. It is anticipated that readers will find this collection of qualitative examples not only useful for informing their own research, but we also hope to enlighten new discussions and arguments regarding both methodological and empirical use of qualitative work internationally. Features Encompasses the importance of qualitative research and how it can be used to facilitate healthcare and rehabilitation across a wide range of health conditions. Evaluates empirical data whilst critically applying it to contemporary practices. Provides readers with an overview with future directions and influence policy makers in order to develop practice. Focuses on an array of health conditions that can affect groups of the population, coincided with life issues and the care and family support received. Offers innovative methodological insights for prospective researchers in order to add to the existing evidence base.

This book examines the role of everyday technology throughout the life cycle in order to demonstrate the wide acceptance and impact of everyday technology and how it is facilitating both practitioners and patients in contemporary practices. In response, then, this text speaks to a number of audiences. Students writing for undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations/proposals will find the array of works insightful, supported with a vast number of references signposting to key texts. For academics, practitioners and prospective researchers this text offers key empirical and methodological insight that can help focus and uncover originality in their own field.We anticipate that readers will find the collection of empirical examples useful for informing their own work, but also, it attempts to ignite new discussions and arguments regarding the application and use of everyday technology for enhancing health internationally. Explores the multifaceted use and application of each ‘everyday technology’ that impact on diagnosis, treatment and management of individuals. Examines an array of everyday technologies and how these that can either enhance and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes i.e. handheld devices, computer workstations, gamification and artificial intelligence. Discusses technologies that are intended to facilitate patient diagnosis, practitioner-patient relations, within an array of health contexts. Provides readers with an overview with future direction of everyday technologies and its limitations.

This edited book focuses on the role of self-management in healthcare and how it may enhance the medical treatment, management and rehabilitation of service users. It offers expert perspectives on topics covering tools and techniques and how they are being incorporated into healthcare, but also critically appraising forthcoming implementation.Handbook of Self-Management and the Lived Experience of Healthcare begins by introducing the importance of self-management with contemporary and innovative approaches. The book focuses on the impact of self-management and how it affects interpersonal and client based perspectives. The chapters examine how these strategies can help and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes. Each chapter explores the multifaceted use and application of each self-management strategy within its respective specialty and its impacts on diagnosis, treatment, and future management of individuals. It encompasses an array of examples of self-management strategies that will remain pertinent to caregivers, families, practitioners, service users and policymakers. This is not a text on self-management alone but on the societal implications, accompanied by ethical, altruistic and moral examples for such advances within the healthcare field. The book offers original discussions surrounding the interconnectivity of technology and medicine, rehabilitation and patient care.This book will be useful for healthcare practitioners, researchers, and academics as it provides insight into both contemporary and innovative approaches within the medical field, and it can be used as a text to enrich scholarly learning, teaching and assessment to healthcare programmes nationally and internationally.

This edited book focuses on the role of self-management in healthcare and how it may enhance the medical treatment, management and rehabilitation of service users. It offers expert perspectives on topics covering tools and techniques and how they are being incorporated into healthcare, but also critically appraising forthcoming implementation.Handbook of Self-Management and the Lived Experience of Healthcare begins by introducing the importance of self-management with contemporary and innovative approaches. The book focuses on the impact of self-management and how it affects interpersonal and client based perspectives. The chapters examine how these strategies can help and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes. Each chapter explores the multifaceted use and application of each self-management strategy within its respective specialty and its impacts on diagnosis, treatment, and future management of individuals. It encompasses an array of examples of self-management strategies that will remain pertinent to caregivers, families, practitioners, service users and policymakers. This is not a text on self-management alone but on the societal implications, accompanied by ethical, altruistic and moral examples for such advances within the healthcare field. The book offers original discussions surrounding the interconnectivity of technology and medicine, rehabilitation and patient care.This book will be useful for healthcare practitioners, researchers, and academics as it provides insight into both contemporary and innovative approaches within the medical field, and it can be used as a text to enrich scholarly learning, teaching and assessment to healthcare programmes nationally and internationally.

"MS is always in the back of your mind. If there is something you want to do, you always wonder if the MS will allow you do to it."—Darlene, living with MS for 22 yearsLiving with multiple sclerosis (MS) is challenging and multidimensional. MS pervades all aspects of life: one’s body becomes unpredictable and unreliable, one’s identity and sense of self are tested, and relationships with others often change. MS symptoms emerge and remit; limitations evolve and progress. MS rehabilitation is an active, person-centered, and goal-oriented process embedded within a respectful and collaborative partnership between the person with MS and the members of his or her rehabilitation treatment team. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a guiding framework, Multiple Sclerosis Rehabilitation: From Impairment to Participation provides a comprehensive and evidence-based resource to inform and guide clinical reasoning and decision making during each phase of the MS rehabilitation process, from initial referral to post-discharge follow-up. With an emphasis on the application of evidence throughout the entire MS rehabilitation process, the specific objectives of the book are to increase the understanding of: The nature and impact of specific impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions experienced by people with MSHow to select and use valid, reliable, and relevant assessment tools to inform the development of rehabilitation goals and intervention plans, and to evaluate outcomesThis book provides information about the nature and impact of MS on the daily lives of people living with the disease, describes evidence-based assessment processes and instruments, and summarizes current knowledge that can inform goal setting and intervention planning. Thoughtful application of the knowledge contained in this book will inform and guide rehabilitation providers to work collaboratively with people with MS and enable them to achieve their goals for participation in everyday life.

Assistive technology has made it feasible for individuals with a wide range of impairments to engage in many activities, such as education and employment, in ways not previously possible. The key factor is to create consumer-driven technologies that solve the problems by addressing the needs of persons with visual impairments. Assistive Technology for Blindness and Low Vision explores a broad range of technologies that are improving the lives of these individuals. Presenting the current state of the art, this book emphasizes what can be learned from past successful products, as well as what exciting new solutions the future holds.Written by world-class leaders in their field, the chapters cover the physiological bases of vision loss and the fundamentals of orientation, mobility, and information access for blind and low vision individuals. They discuss technology for multiple applications (mobility, wayfinding, information access, education, work, entertainment), including both established technology and cutting-edge research. The book also examines computer and digital media access and the scientific basis for the theory and practice of sensory substitution.This volume provides a holistic view of the elements to consider when designing assistive technology for persons with visual impairment, keeping in mind the need for a user-driven approach to successfully design products that are easy to use, well priced, and fill a specific need. Written for a broad audience, this book provides a comprehensive overview and in-depth descriptions of current technology for designers, engineers, practitioners, rehabilitation professionals, and all readers interested in the challenges and promises of creating successful assistive technology.

This book provides to manufacturers, designers and evaluation professionals the necessary tools for balancing design and the assessment phases during the product lifecycle. It proposes an integrated model of interaction evaluation for a holistic analysis of the user experience by both discussing in details the interaction testing methods, and promoting the involvement of disabled users in human computer interaction evaluation.

The development and application of assistive technology can help those with reduced abilities improve their quality of life and reduce their dependence on others. Written in layman’s terms, Devices for Mobility and Manipulation for People with Reduced Abilities provides research and information on assistive technologies for non-technical people. While it highlights various mobility and manipulative technologies, with the exception of specific examples within the text, it keeps technical terminology, equations, and software details to a minimum. It presents technical material in a digestible way for people with reduced abilities as well as for their caregivers.Each chapter covers a specific technology, and starts with a general introduction of that technology, followed by the technical details and an assessment from the user’s viewpoint. This includes the user benefits and suitability, cost, reliability, and required infrastructure. The chapter also provides illustrations or photographs of the devices, and identifies shortcomings, current research related to the technology, and possible development opportunities. Each chapter provides the range of specifications for the equipment and includes a list of manufacturers.Discusses user advantages and conditionsExamines technologies for robotic wheelchairs and prosthesesHelps a clinician or user understand the different devices that support people with disabilitiesThis book provides clinicians, users, and engineers with the details of different technologies, and also includes a guide to the technology that underpins each of these devices, making it easier for people to understand the devices. References are also included for scientists, designers, and other tech-savvy professionals interested in further information.

A collaboration between leading scientists, practitioners, and researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, this book is a comprehensive resource describing Quality of Life technologies and their development, evaluation, adoption, and commercialization. It takes an interdisciplinary team approach to the process of technology development for disabled and older persons and discusses the state of the art and future directions of technologies. This work provides direction on how to identify user needs and preferences, engage end-users in the design and development process, and evaluate and commercialize the technologies.

Written to provide clinicians, educators, researchers, and students in rehabilitation with a comprehensive overview of the theory, practice, and evidence base of goal setting, this first-of-its-kind reference provides an authoritative, state-of-the-art knowledge of the practice. The authors cover a broad range of different approaches to goal setting, with input from experts from North America, Europe, and Australia. This book is applicable to patients with stroke, traumatic brain injury, neurological disorders, spinal cord injury, and other conditions.

This book will provide an overview of the rehabilitation engineering field, including key concepts that are required to provide a solid foundation about the discipline. It will present these concepts through a mix of basic and applied knowledge from rehabilitation engineering research and practice. It's written as an introductory text in order to provide access to the field by those without previous experience or background in the field.These concepts will include those related to engineering and health that are necessary to understand the application of rehabilitation engineering to support human function.

Innovations in paediatric rehabilitation engineering can serve as a springboard to education, psychosocial, social, physical and cognitive development for children and youth with disabilities. Instead of providing an overview of rehabilitation engineering, Paediatric Rehabilitation Engineering focuses on the uniqueness of the paediatric subspecialty via an international sampling of methods and techniques currently in use or in development. The book is divided into three complementary components. The first group of chapters is broadly concerned with connecting individuals to their environment and to the people around them. The second group revolves around paediatric technologies that compensate for compromised or missing function. The final group of chapters is about machines and environments which provide stimulating and interactive platforms for therapy and research.Topics include:Microswitch-based occupational, recreational and rehabilitation programsEmerging access technologies, like infrared thermal imaging and vocal cord vibration detectionCommunication technologies to enable children to communicate in a variety of everyday environmentsAccessible graphical user and Web-based interface designPostural and upper and lower extremity compensation, such as customized chairs and prosthesesGlobal efforts in the area of robotics for autism researchVirtual reality and other interfaces to mitigate motor, communication, and physical control difficultiesPaedriatric rehabilitation engineering offers endless possibilities for future research with implications across the fields of physical and cognitive rehabilitation, medicine, computer science, and policy. It is the harmonizing of the expertise and energies of rehabilitation professionals such as teachers, families, paediatric rehabilitation engineers, and other stakeholders that will ensure that children are optimally supported as they embark on their journey from disability to possibility.

Rehabilitation is dedicated to helping people not only survive, but also thrive. Despite this complex goal, the organizing principles of rehabilitation still rely on biomedicine to construct disability as a problem of impaired bodies. Rehabilitation professionals are committed to helping to enhance people‘s lives, but many struggle with how to do so in light of the bigger questions regarding their roles in, for example, working to maintain hope for recovery and/or promoting greater acceptance of diverse abilities. A key problem is the lack of theoretical tools for working through the function of rehabilitation in the lives of disabled people. Rehabilitation, for the most part, reflects a narrow mechanistic conception of movement. It considers movements of body structures such as joints, functional movements such as walking, or more recently, how movement and mobility facilitate participation in social roles. Despite a nascent concern with the environmental factors contributing to disablement, movement is still focused primarily on mobilizing people‘s bodies. Rehabilitation: A Post-critical Approach reexamines the philosophical foundations of rehabilitation, expanding the concept of movement beyond the physical body. Drawing from disability studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, cultural studies, and bioethics, this theoretically rigorous yet accessibly styled text:Explores the limitations of biomedicine as the organizing framework of rehabilitation Evaluates new directions to diversify contemporary rehabilitation practice Establishes the parameters for a reconfigured ethics of rehabilitationBy embracing multiple ideas of movement not only physical, but also social, emotional, and political alternative approaches to rehabilitation are revealed.

This book examines the role of everyday technology throughout the life cycle in order to demonstrate the wide acceptance and impact of everyday technology and how it is facilitating both practitioners and patients in contemporary practices. In response, then, this text speaks to a number of audiences. Students writing for undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations/proposals will find the array of works insightful, supported with a vast number of references signposting to key texts. For academics, practitioners and prospective researchers this text offers key empirical and methodological insight that can help focus and uncover originality in their own field.We anticipate that readers will find the collection of empirical examples useful for informing their own work, but also, it attempts to ignite new discussions and arguments regarding the application and use of everyday technology for enhancing health internationally. Explores the multifaceted use and application of each ‘everyday technology’ that impact on diagnosis, treatment and management of individuals. Examines an array of everyday technologies and how these that can either enhance and/or hinder patient/service user outcomes i.e. handheld devices, computer workstations, gamification and artificial intelligence. Discusses technologies that are intended to facilitate patient diagnosis, practitioner-patient relations, within an array of health contexts. Provides readers with an overview with future direction of everyday technologies and its limitations.

Addresses an Emerging Shift in Developing CountriesThe authors and contributors of Ambient Assisted Living have recognized that the demographic profile is changing in many developing countries and have factored in an inversion of the demographic pyramid. The technology of ambient assisted living (AAL), supports the elderly and disabled in their daily routines to allow for safe and independent living for as long as possible. Dedicated to ambient intelligence—electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people—Ambient Assisted Living highlights the technologies that center on the needs of these special interest groups, such as the elderly or people with disabilities. Beneficial to students, practitioners, and users of ambient assisted living (AAL), this text compiles scattered information on the subject, outlines the most important and significant work in related literature, and covers the latest hardware and software for ergonomic design pertaining to AAL. From inception to implementation, the text assesses what has been produced and researched so far and looks for trends and clues for the future. It reviews literature on AAL published since 2007 and describes the main features and areas of products or systems that interlink and improve new or existing technologies and systems. This text: Provides extensive coverage of the applications, software, and information management for AALContains an overview of the concepts related to AALIncludes a comprehensive review of the state of the art on pervasive and mobile health (m-health) applicationsDescribes a set of projects and work with scientific relevance in AALIntroduces a framework focused on the monitoring and assistance of elderly persons living aloneDiscusses a prospective study on technological systems for people with cognitive disabilitiesAmbient Assisted Living highlights technologies that adapt to the user rather than the user adapting to the technology. This text proposes technologies that can enable assisted persons to live independently for longer and reduce the need for long-term care.

Master the tools of design thinking using Neuroprosthetics: Principles and Applications. Developed from successfully tested material used in an undergraduate and graduate level course taught to biomedical engineering and neuroscience students, this book focuses on the use of direct neural sensing and stimulation as a therapeutic intervention for complex disorders of the brain. It covers the theory and applications behind neuroprosthetics and explores how neuroprosthetic design thinking can enhance value for users of a direct neural interface. The book explains the fundamentals of design thinking, introduces essential concepts from neuroscience and engineering illustrating the major components of neuroprosthetics, and presents practical applications. In addition to describing the approach of design thinking (based on facts about the user’s needs, desires, habits, attitudes, and experiences with neuroprosthetics), it also examines how effectively "human centered" neuroprosthetics can address people’s needs and interactions in their daily lives. Identifying concepts and features of devices that work well with users of a direct neural interface, this book: Outlines the signal sensing capabilities and trade-offs for common electrode designs, and determines the most appropriate electrode for any neuroprosthetic applicationSpecifies neurosurgical techniques and how electronics should be tailored to capture neural signalsProvides an understanding of the mechanisms of neural–electrode performance and information contained in neural signals Provides understanding of neural decoding in neuroprosthetic applicationsDescribes the strategies that can be used to promote long-term therapeutic interventions for humans through the use of neuroprosthetics The first true primary text for undergraduate and graduate students in departments of neuroscience and bioengineering that covers the theory and applications behind this science, Neuroprosthetics: Principles and Applications provides the fundamental knowledge needed to understand how electrodes translate neural activity into signals that are useable by machines and enables readers to master the tools of design thinking and apply them to any neuroprosthetic application.

Innovations in paediatric rehabilitation engineering can serve as a springboard to education, psychosocial, social, physical and cognitive development for children and youth with disabilities. Instead of providing an overview of rehabilitation engineering, Paediatric Rehabilitation Engineering focuses on the uniqueness of the paediatric subspecialty via an international sampling of methods and techniques currently in use or in development. The book is divided into three complementary components. The first group of chapters is broadly concerned with connecting individuals to their environment and to the people around them. The second group revolves around paediatric technologies that compensate for compromised or missing function. The final group of chapters is about machines and environments which provide stimulating and interactive platforms for therapy and research.Topics include:Microswitch-based occupational, recreational and rehabilitation programsEmerging access technologies, like infrared thermal imaging and vocal cord vibration detectionCommunication technologies to enable children to communicate in a variety of everyday environmentsAccessible graphical user and Web-based interface designPostural and upper and lower extremity compensation, such as customized chairs and prosthesesGlobal efforts in the area of robotics for autism researchVirtual reality and other interfaces to mitigate motor, communication, and physical control difficultiesPaedriatric rehabilitation engineering offers endless possibilities for future research with implications across the fields of physical and cognitive rehabilitation, medicine, computer science, and policy. It is the harmonizing of the expertise and energies of rehabilitation professionals such as teachers, families, paediatric rehabilitation engineers, and other stakeholders that will ensure that children are optimally supported as they embark on their journey from disability to possibility.