Wearable Sensors for Stroke Rehabilitation

In this chapter, we provide a review of the current applications of wearable sensors in the field of stroke rehabilitation. Four key points are discussed in this review. First, wearable sensors are a viable solution for monitoring movement during rehabilitation exercises and clinical assessments, but more work needs to be done to derive clinically relevant information from sensor data collected during unstructured activities. Second, wearable technologies provide critical information related to the performance of activities in daily life, information that is not necessarily captured during in-clinic assessments. Third, wearable technologies can provide feedback and motivation to increase movement in the home and community settings. Finally, technologies are rapidly emerging that can complement “traditional” wearable sensors and sometimes replace them as they provide less obtrusive means of monitoring motor function in stroke survivors. These developing technologies, as well as readily available wearable sensors, are transforming stroke rehabilitation, their development is progressing at a fast pace, and their use so far has allowed us to gather important information, that we would have not been able to collect otherwise, which has tremendous potential to further advance stroke rehabilitation.