Sensor Technology Applied to Rehabilitation in Stroke - STARS - Abstract Our proposed RERC, called “STARS” (Sensor Technologies Applied to Rehabilitation in Stroke), will focus on the pivotal role of clinicians and therapists in implementing routine rehabilitation care, and on enhancing their capacity to provide evidence-based, individualized, and precise therapy. Our primary objective is to enhance the capacity of clinicians to measure impairment by developing and testing a range of sensors suitable for clinical use. Our central hypothesis is that the measures of function currently used to evaluate progress in rehabilitation are insufficiently precise, and do not allow physicians and therapists to characterize and understand the sources of impairment that lead to loss of function. We will test this hypothesis by first designing, developing, and testing sensors suitable for measurement of impairment in stroke survivors, followed by studies to determine the feasibility of implementing these devices in routine clinical practice. We will focus on stroke, because this is the most common neurological disorder requiring intensive and prolonged rehabilitation. Our RERC will target the domain of health and function. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (SRAlab), with its partners at Northwestern University, University of California at Irvine, and Virginia Tech, brings together a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, clinicians, and consumers to conduct the following program of research and development. (1) Evaluate use of Small Exoskeletons on the Hands and Fingers of Stroke Survivors to Quantify Finger Extension Forces and Proprioception (Reinkensmeyer) (2) Development of a Sensor Glove for Precise Quantification of Spasticity in Stroke Survivors (Rymer, Suresh, and Prochaza) (3) Low Cost Instrumentation and Computational Rating of ARAT Using an Adapted Semi-Automated Rehabilitation System (Rikakis, Kelliher, Huang, Turga and Wolf) (4) Wearable Sensors to Measure Gait Impairments and Function in Individuals with Stroke (Jayaraman and Rymer) (5) Pilot Implementation Study on Clinical Sensor Adoption and Effectiveness of Sensors (Rafferty, Heineman ,and Roth) The projects are supported by Core facilities on: (1) Instrumentation and Sensor Development; (2) Data Collection and Data Science; and (3) Clinical Translation and Measurement. We also will conduct a program of advanced education and training for junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate students. The SRAlab Academy will provide on-site and web-based training for professionals and consumers. Our dissemination plans will include presentations at engineering and rehabilitation conferences and publications in high-impact peer reviewed journals to contribute new scientific, engineering and clinical knowledge. Expected outcomes and products include advanced prototypes of sensors and devices that are clinically and commercially viable.
