Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy

Subscribe to this RSS Feed

A sniffing-based device developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel may enable disabled people to navigate wheelchairs or communicate with loved ones. The system identifies changes in air pressure inside the nostrils and translates these into electrical signals. In the future, researchers predict that this technology may even be used to create a "third hand" to assist healthy surgeons or pilots.
Read More >>

Marshall Space Flight Center develops key transportation and propulsion technologies for the Space Agency. The Center manages propulsion hardware and technologies of the space shuttle, develops the next generation of space transportation and propulsion systems, oversees science and hardware development for the International Space Station, manages projects and studies that will help pave the way back to the Moon, and handles a variety of associated scientific endeavors to benefit space exploration and improve life here on Earth.
Read More >>

This orthotic insert mimics the experience of walking in wet sand.

Kinesthotic© orthotics are made to adapt to the foot by replicating, within footwear, an explicit quality of beach-sand surface dynamics on whatever surface the footwear is used. The resulting support complies with the biomechanically sound and functional supportive principles and demands of each foot. The proprietary semi-fluid One-MinuteFit© molding composite is hermetically sealed within the Kinesthotic retaining envelope aligned on top of the pre-molded dynamic molding chassis.

Read More >>

You may have heard the phrase “as difficult as walking and chewing gum” as a joking way of referring to something that is not difficult at all. Just walking, however, is not all that simple – physiologically speaking. Even standing upright is an undertaking requiring the complex cooperation of multiple motor and sensory systems including vision, the inner ear, somatosensation (sensation from the skin), and proprioception (the sense of the body’s parts in relation to each other). The compromised performance of any of these elements can lead to a balance disorder, which in some form affects nearly half of Americans at least once in their lifetimes, from the elderly, to those with neurological or vestibular (inner ear) dysfunction, to athletes with musculoskeletal injuries, to astronauts returning from space.

Read More >>

For astronauts returning to Earth, adjusting to full gravity can be just as demanding as any of the challenges they faced in space. While readjusting to Earth’s gravitational pull, astronauts can experience difficulties moving and balancing, headaches, nausea, and even fainting spells.
Read More >>

This technology monitors input and effort, and instantly adapts the device to real-world conditions.

A computer-controlled, programmable control interface allows safe, intuitive manual control for motorized wheelchairs that operate in variable terrain. The key feature of this technology is its proprietary computer program that enables an operator to manage a load as if it were light and on a smooth level surface, no matter what the real-world load or grade is. Operation is completely intuitive and does not require manipulation of throttle and/or brakes.

Read More >>

This implantable device technology improves long-term functional recovery after a traumatic brain injury.

It has been demonstrated that after a stroke-like lesion in the cerebral cortex of non-human primates, the remaining intact tissue undergoes extensive neuro-physiological and neuroanatomical remodeling. The ability of cortical areas remote from the infarct to form new cortico-cortical connections over long distances between the frontal and parietal lobes has been demonstrated. It is likely that these novel connections play a role in functional recovery after cortical injury.
Read More >>