Assistive Technology Research

KEY FINDING: Wearable robots can be grouped into three main applications: (1) primary and secondary MSK injury prevention, (2) enhancement of military activities and tasks, and (3) rehabilitation and reintegration.

KEY FINDING: VR training shows promising outcomes in improving upper limb mobility and strength, especially in muscle strength, compared to traditional training.

KEY FINDING: Manual wheelchair training programs often target individuals with spinal cord injuries, potentially overlooking the needs of older adults or those with progressive conditions.

KEY FINDING: Participants who completed the VSail® training were able to sail on the water at the Downtown Sailing Center in Baltimore.

KEY FINDING: Excluding end-users leads to problems such as device abandonment, additional expenses, lack of maintenance options, and ethical implications.

KEY FINDING: Scenic VR participants showed reduced Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory scores postintervention and at follow-up, suggesting pain reduction.

KEY FINDING: The study demonstrates that a fully immersive virtual reality system based on a head-mounted display is both feasible and well received by cerebrovascular accident and spinal cord injury patients and their therapists during robot-assisted gait training.

KEY FINDING: Virtual reality (VR) interventions have the potential to enhance the walking index for spinal cord injury (WISCI) among individuals with SCI.

KEY FINDING: Participants could learn to trigger steps using the HMD-IVR system, suggesting its potential for training complex motor tasks.

KEY FINDING: Stroke was the most frequently reported disease in the included systematic reviews (40 SRs), followed by spinal cord injury (8 SRs), multiple sclerosis (4 SRs), cerebral palsy (4 SRs), Parkinson’s disease (3 SRs), and neurological disease (3 SRs).