Are healthy ageing trajectories suitable to identify rehabilitation needs of the ageing population? An exploratory study using ATHLOS cohort data.

BACKGROUND: The ageing process is highly heterogeneous leading to diverse ageing trajectories. Such trajectories have been modelled to study trends and determinants of ageing and could potentially be used to inform the planning of rehabilitation services at population level. The objective of this paper was to explore whether healthy ageing trajectories are suitable to identify targets for rehabilitation interventions for the ageing population. METHODS: Data from the Ageing Trajectories of Health: Longitudinal Opportunities and Synergies (ATHLOS) harmonized cohort and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), which is included in ATHLOS, were used. Growth mixture models were implemented to replicate healthy ageing trajectories modelled elsewhere as 'high stable', 'low stable', and 'rapid decline'. Regularized partial correlation networks were used to estimate expected-influence and bridge expected-influence centrality measures. RESULTS: Healthy ageing trajectories modelled with ATHLOS (N = 131116) and ELSA (N = 14904) were consistent with previous work. At the first individual wave, prevalence of problems of respondents in the 'high stable' and 'rapid decline' trajectories were comparable; at the last individual wave, prevalence remained similar for the 'high stable' but increased substantially in all domains for the 'rapid decline' trajectory. Expected-influence centrality measures provided different results than prevalence estimates. For instance, in the first individual wave mobility and carrying, moving, and handling objects had highest impact on overall functioning for the 'rapid decline' and 'high stable' trajectories, while the most prevalent functioning problems concerned cognition, pain, as well as energy and drive functions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study stressed the relevance of healthy ageing trajectories for identifying functioning domains and categories that need to be targeted by rehabilitation services in a heterogeneous ageing population. The use of such trajectories at country level has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the planning and delivery of rehabilitation interventions through health systems and to informed policy making.

Community service rehabilitation therapists' understanding of social accountability.

BACKGROUND:  Social accountability is the obligation of health care providers to address the priority health concerns of the community they serve and of universities to ensure that graduates understand these social responsibilities. Although social accountability can combat systemic health inefficiencies, it is not well-understood or practised. AIM:  The study aimed to explore community service rehabilitation therapists' understanding of social accountability. SETTING:  The study was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. METHODS:  This study used an interpretive exploratory design and purposively recruited 27 community service rehabilitation therapists namely, audiologists, speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists working in public sector health facilities in rural and peri-urban areas. Four focus group discussions and four free attitude interviews were conducted, the results being thematically analysed. RESULTS:  Despite most of the participants not being instructed in social accountability as part of their formal training or institutional induction, three themes emerged based on their experiences. These themes include describing social accountability, values of social accountability, and values of community-based rehabilitation applicable to social accountability. CONCLUSION:  Inclusion of instruction on social accountability as part of their formal training and health facility induction would contribute to rehabilitation therapists' understanding of social accountability.Contribution: The study contributes to data on rehabilitation education and community service training regarding social accountability within a South African context and has captured how experiences gained during community service contribute to the rehabilitation therapists' understanding of social accountability.

[Contribution of physical and rehabilitation medicine to primary care medicine]. / Apport de la médecine physique et de réadaptation à la médecine de premier recours.

Physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) is an independent medical specialty, little known in Switzerland. This specialty, strongly linked to the holistic approach of the International Classification of Functioning, will be increasingly solicited by the epidemiology of disability and the imperatives of "ageing better". Its skills in prescribing human and material resources for rehabilitation provide added value in terms of loss of autonomy. Based on a biopsychosocial model, PRM has a high role to play in prevention and primary healthcare, as well as in the management and prevention of the consequences of functionally limiting diseases. There are, however, financial (pricing) and demographic (lack of representation) obstacles to effective action on behalf of the population and the healthcare system.

La médecine physique et de réadaptation (MPR), discipline indépendante, est peu connue en Suisse. Cette spécialité, liée à l'approche holistique de la classification internationale du fonctionnement, sera de plus en plus sollicitée par l'épidémiologie du handicap et les impératifs du « vieillir mieux ¼. Ses compétences de prescription des moyens humains et matériels en réadaptation apportent une plus-value sur la perte d'autonomie. Basée sur un modèle biopsychosocial, la MPR trouve sa place dans la prévention et les soins de santé primaires ainsi que dans la prise en charge et la prévention des conséquences des maladies induisant une limitation fonctionnelle. Il existe toutefois des obstacles financiers (tarification) et démographiques (insuffisance de représentation) pour une action efficace au service de la population et du système de santé.

An Expert-Knowledge-Based Graph Convolutional Network for Skeleton- Based Physical Rehabilitation Exercises Assessment.

Physical therapists play a crucial role in guiding patients through effective and safe rehabilitation processes according to medical guidelines. However, due to the therapist-patient imbalance, it is neither economical nor feasible for therapists to provide guidance to every patient during recovery sessions. Automated assessment of physical rehabilitation can help with this problem, but accurately quantifying patients' training movements and providing meaningful feedback poses a challenge. In this paper, an Expert-knowledge-based Graph Convolutional approach is proposed to automate the assessment of the quality of physical rehabilitation exercises. This approach utilizes experts' knowledge to improve the spatial feature extraction ability of the Graph Convolutional module and a Gated pooling module for feature aggregation. Additionally, a Transformer module is employed to capture long-range temporal dependencies in the movements. The attention scores and weight matrix obtained through this approach can serve as interpretability tools to help therapists understand the assessment model and assist patients in improving their exercises. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on the KIMORE dataset, achieving state-of-the-art performance compared to existing models. Experimental results also illustrate the interpretability of the method in both spatial and temporal dimensions.

Evidence of community health workers' delivery of physical rehabilitation services in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVES: To map the evidence and scope of physical rehabilitation services delivered by community health workers (CHWs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). DESIGN: Scoping review DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Central and databases within the EBSCOhost platform. We also searched other literature sources including reference lists, conference presentations and organisational websites such as WHO, Ministries of Health and non-governmental organisations in SSA. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF STUDIES: Articles presenting evidence on CHWs' delivery of physical rehabilitation services in SSA from September 1978 to June 2023. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Screening was conducted by two reviewers and was guided by the inclusion criteria. Thematic content analysis of data was employed. The results are presented according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis extension for scoping reviews. RESULTS: A total of 6996 articles were identified through various databases, with only 20 studies qualifying for data extraction. Evidence was presented by Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa and Uganda. Assessments, case management, health education, community liaison with support, health systems linkage and administration were the CHWs' scope of practice identified. The review identified home-based, community-based, community and facility-based, home and community-based and facility-based as modes of delivery. The barriers experienced are resources, societal and community attitudes, governance, geographical barriers and delivery capacity, while proximity to the community, positive job attitude and support with collaboration facilitated service delivery. CONCLUSION: Training and integrating CHWs in national health care systems, with careful selection of existing CHWs, would minimise the barriers faced.

Effectiveness of Intelligent Control Strategies in Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation-A Systematic Review.

This review aims to provide a systematic analysis of the literature focused on the use of intelligent control systems in robotics for physical rehabilitation, identifying trends in recent research and comparing the effectiveness of intelligence used in control, with the aim of determining important factors in robot-assisted rehabilitation and how intelligent controller design can improve them. Seven electronic research databases were searched for articles published in the years 2015 - 2022 with articles selected based on relevance to the subject area of intelligent control systems in rehabilitation robotics. It was found that the most common use of intelligent algorithms for control is improving traditional control strategies with optimization and learning techniques. Intelligent algorithms are also commonly used in sensor output mapping, model construction, and for various data learning purposes. Experimental results show that intelligent controllers consistently outperform non-intelligent controllers in terms of transparency, tracking accuracy, and adaptability. Active participation of the patients and lowered interaction forces are consistently mentioned as important factors in improving the rehabilitation outcome as well as the patient experience. However, there are limited examples of studies presenting experimental results with impaired participants suffering limited range of motion, so the effectiveness of therapy provided by these systems is often difficult to quantify. A lack of universal evaluation criteria also makes it difficult to compare control systems outside of articles which use their own comparison criteria.

Unlocking the Black Box? A Comprehensive Exploration of Large Language Models in Rehabilitation.

ABSTRACT: Rehabilitation is a vital component of health care, aiming to restore function and improve the well-being of individuals with disabilities or injuries. Nevertheless, the rehabilitation process is often likened to a " black box ," with complexities that pose challenges for comprehensive analysis and optimization. The emergence of large language models offers promising solutions to better understand this " black box ." Large language models excel at comprehending and generating human-like text, making them valuable in the healthcare sector. In rehabilitation, healthcare professionals must integrate a wide range of data to create effective treatment plans, akin to selecting the best ingredients for the " black box. " Large language models enhance data integration, communication, assessment, and prediction.This article delves into the ground-breaking use of large language models as a tool to further understand the rehabilitation process. Large language models address current rehabilitation issues, including data bias, contextual comprehension, and ethical concerns. Collaboration with healthcare experts and rigorous validation is crucial when deploying large language models. Integrating large language models into rehabilitation yields insights into this intricate process, enhancing data-driven decision making, refining clinical practices, and predicting rehabilitation outcomes. Although challenges persist, large language models represent a significant stride in rehabilitation, underscoring the importance of ethical use and collaboration.

Impact of the health policy for interdisciplinary collaborative rehabilitation practices in intensive care units: A difference-in-differences analysis in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Early rehabilitation in intensive care units (ICUs) may be beneficial but is not routinely performed for adults with critical illness. In April 2018, the Japanese government introduced a health policy to provide financial incentives to hospitals that met the requirements of interdisciplinary collaboration and had teams specialized in ICU rehabilitation practices. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate whether the health policy is associated with improved clinical practices of ICU rehabilitation. METHODS: Using a nationwide administrative inpatient database and hospital statistics data from Japan, we identified hospitals that admitted adult patients to the ICU within two days of hospital admission from April 2016 to March 2019. Using hospital-level propensity score matching, we created matched cohorts of 101,203 patients from 108 intervention hospitals that introduced the health policy, and 106,703 patients from 108 control hospitals that did not. We then conducted patient-level difference-in-differences analyses to examine changes in the percentage of patients from the intervention and control hospitals, who underwent early ICU rehabilitation within two days of ICU admission before and after the implementation of the health policy. RESULTS: In the intervention group, patients undergoing early ICU rehabilitation increased from 10% and 36% after the policy implementation. In the control group, it increased from 11% to 13%. The difference-in-difference in the percentage of patients who underwent early ICU rehabilitation between the two groups was 24% (95% confidence interval, 19%-29%). CONCLUSIONS: Early ICU rehabilitation can be facilitated by financial incentives for hospitals that engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with specialist teams. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Our Findings are relevant for hospital administrators, professional organizations, and policymakers in other nations considering strategies to support the additional deployment burdens of early ICU rehabilitation. Future studies need to explore the long-term effects and sustainability of the observed improvements in ICU rehabilitation practices.

Exploration of the relationship between functional motor and communication performance levels and amount of use of the more affected upper extremity based on the caregivers’ perceptions in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: A cross-sectional study / Exploración de la relación entre los niveles de rendimiento motor funcional y de la comunicación y la cantidad de uso de la extremidad superior más afectada, basada en las percepciones de los cuidadores de niños con parálisis cerebral hemipléjica: estudio transversal

Objective: To investigate relationships between amount of use of the more affected upper extremity and functional motor and communication performance classification systems. Material and methods: The study comprised 95 children with congenital hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) aged 6–15 years (52 males, 43 females; mean age 9.53, SD 3.1) and their parents/caregivers. The amount of use of the more affected upper extremity was assessed using Pediatric Motor Activity Log-Revised-How Often subscale (PMAL-R HO). Functional levels of the enrolled children were defined by the parents/caregivers using Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), Gross Motor Function Classification System-Expanded and Revised (GMFCS-E&R), and Communication Function Classification System (CFCS). Results: A strong and negative correlation was found between PMAL-R HO subscale score and MACS (r=−0.819), suggesting that children with lower MACS levels are more likely to use their more affected upper extremity spontaneously. Additionally, negative and moderate associations between PMAL-R HO subscale score and GMFCS and CFCS were revealed (r1=−0.549 and r2=−0.567). Conclusion: The amount of use of the more affected upper extremity is more sensitive to MACS than GMFCS-E&R and CFCS. Children with a given MACS level had a wide range of PMAL-R HO subscale score. In addition to MACS, a score on the PMAL-R HO subscale related to the more affected upper extremity should be included as an inclusion criterion in clinical trials to avoid misleading effects of intervention approaches aimed at improving the amount of use of the more affected upper extremity in children with congenital hemiplegic CP.(AU)

Objectivo: Investigar las relaciones entre la cantidad de uso de la extremidad superior más afectada y los sistemas de clasificación del rendimiento motor funcional y de la comunicación. Material y métodos: El estudio incluyó a 95 niños con parálisis cerebral (PC) hemipléjica congénita de 6 a 15 años de edad (52 varones, 43 mujeres; edad media 9,53, DE 3,1) y a sus padres/cuidadores. La cantidad de uso de la extremidad superior más afectada se evaluó utilizando la subescala Pediatric Motor Activity Log-Revised-How Often (PMAL-R HO). Los niveles funcionales de los niños incluidos fueron definidos por los padres/cuidadores utilizando Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), Gross Motor Function Classification System-Expanded and Revised (GMFCS-E&R) y Communication Function Classification System (CFCS). Resultados: Se encontró una correlación fuerte y negativa entre la puntuación de la subescala PMAL-R HO y MACS (r=-0,819), lo cual sugiere que los niños con menores niveles de MACS tienen mayor probabilidad de utilizar su extremidad superior más afectada de manera espontánea. Además, se revelaron asociaciones negativas y moderadas entre la puntuación de la subescala PMAL-R HO y GMFCS y CFCS (r1=-0,549 y r2=-0,567). Conclusión: La cantidad de uso de la extremidad superior más afectada es más sensible a MACS que a GMFCS-E&R y CFCS. Los niños con un nivel dado de MACS reflejaron un rango más amplio en la puntuación de la subescala PMAL-R HO. Además de MACS, debería incluirse una puntuación en la subescala PMAL-R HO relacionada con la extremidad superior más afectada, como criterio de inclusión en los ensayos clínicos, para evitar efectos confusos de los enfoques de intervención, de cara a mejorar la cantidad de uso de la extremidad superior más afectada en niños con PC hemipléjica congénita.(AU)

Rehabilitación del miembro superior a través de la imagineria motora graduada y sistema de realidad virtual tras un ictus: un estudio piloto / Upper limb rehabilitation through graded motor imagery and virtual reality system after stroke: a pilot study

Objetivos: evaluar el efecto de una intervención combinada de Realidad Virtual e Imaginería Motora Graduada sobre la funcionalidad del miembro superior afecto en adultos con ictus en fase crónica. Métodos: un estudio piloto, cuasiexperimental, de un único grupo, en el que participaron 5 pacientes adultos con ictus en fase crónica durante 5 semanas, durante el cual recibieron tratamiento combinado de Realidad Virtual y de Imaginería motora graduada. La funcionalidad del miembro superior se evaluó con la escala Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Motor Activity Log-30, Abilhand, Barthel, Asworth, Box and Blocks, Nine Hole Peg Test y medidas propias del dispositivo de Realidad Virtual y de la lateralidad. Resultados: la Realidad Virtual e Imaginería motora graduada mejoraron la funcionalidad del miembro superior, mejorando resultados en la lateralidad (p= 0,043) y la RV de la actividad no 2(p= 0,043), respectivamente, así como el cuestionario Motor Activity Log-30, en el que se obtuvo diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la valoración inicial y final con una (p= 0,043). Conclusiones: la intervención combinada con RV e IMG parece mejorar la funcionalidad del miembro superior en adultos con ictus en fase crónica, pero sería necesario realizar estudios con un tamaño muestral mayor, para determinar la efectividad y las posibles mejorías de la funcionalidad de las extremidades al combinar la RV y la IMG.(AU)

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effect of a combined Virtual Reality and Graded Motor Imaging intervention on the functionality of the affected upper limb in adults with chronic stroke. Methods: A single- group, quasi-experimental, pilot study involving 5 adult patients with chronic stroke for 5 weeks, during which they received combined VR and IMG treatment. Upper limb functionality was assessed with the Fugl- Meyer Assessment, Motor Activity Log-30, Abilhand, Barthel, Asworth, Box and Blocks and Nine Hole Peg Test, as well as the tools from the VR and GMI devices. Results: VR and IMG improved the functionality of the upper limb, improving results in laterality (p= 0.043) and VR of activity no. 2 (p= 0.043), respectively, as well as the Motor Activity Log-30 questionnaire, in which statistically significant differences were obtained between the initial and final assessment with a (p= 0.043). Conclusions: Combined intervention with VR and IMG appears to improve upper limb function in adults with chronic stroke, but studies with larger sample sizes are needed to determine the effectiveness and possible improvements in limb function when combining VR and IMG.(AU)

Methodological Challenges in Group-based Randomised Controlled Trials for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: A Meta-summary / [Desafíos metodológicos en los ensayos controlados aleatorizados con grupos de intervención para agresores de pareja: un meta-resumen]

Evidence for treatment effects of group-based Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) perpetrators programmes remains, at best, inconclusive. In the present review, systematic/meta-analytic reviews were used to identify randomised controlled trials and a meta-summary approach was employed to identify methodological challenges in the design and conduct of these trials. Of the fifteen studies identified, seven were comparative effectiveness trials. A range of methodological challenges were also identified by the trialists; source of outcome data, treatment modality, attrition and sample characteristics were the most frequently mentioned. Although there are only a few randomised controlled trials compared to non randomised studies, the findings of both highlight the need to invest in the development of innovative and/or combined IPV treatment programmes to address co-occurring issues such as substance use and trauma. The summary of methodological challenges will provide the first step in the development of methods guidance for researchers working in this area.(AU)

La evidencia del efecto del tratamiento de los programas de intervención grupal para agresores de pareja (IPV) siguen siendo, en el mejor de los casos, no concluyentes. En la presente revisión se emplearon revisiones sistemáticas/meta-analíticas para identificar ensayos controlados aleatorizados y se empleó un enfoque de meta-resumen para identificar los desafíos metodológicos en el diseño y la realización de estos ensayos. De los quince estudios identificados, siete fueron ensayos de comparación de la efectividad. Los autores de los ensayos también identificaron una serie de desafíos metodológicos: la fuente de la que se obtienen los datos relativos a los resultados, la modalidad de tratamiento, la mortalidad de la muestra y sus características fueron los mencionados con más frecuencia. Aunque son todavía escasos los ensayos controlados aleatorizados en comparación con los estudios no aleatorizados, los resultados de ambos tipos de estudios han destacado la importancia de invertir en el desarrollo de programas de tratamiento de IPV innovadores y/o combinados para tratar problemáticas conjuntas tales como consumo de substancias y trauma. El resumen de los desafíos metodológicos proporcionará el primer paso para el desarrollo de guías metodológicas para los investigadores que trabajan en este área.(AU)

Best practice rehabilitation pathway for the management of single and double-level lumbar fusion surgery: a modified Delphi Study.

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence to guide the rehabilitation of patients following single or double-level lumbar fusion surgery (LFS). This is reflected in extensive variability in current rehabilitation regimes and subsequent low clinical success rates, which urges a call for a consensus rehabilitation pathway. AIM: To establish consensus on the optimal pre-, peri- and postoperative rehabilitation of LFS. DESIGN: A modified Delphi Study. SETTING: Belgium and the Netherlands. POPULATION: A multidisciplinary panel of 31 experts in the field of LFS and rehabilitation participated. Nine patients validated the consensus pathway. METHODS: A three-round online Delphi questionnaire was followed by an in-person consensus meeting. In each round, experts could suggest new statements, and received group summary statistics and feedback for reconsidered statements. Consensus threshold was set at ≥75% agreement. The resulting rehabilitation pathway was validated by patients through an online questionnaire and subsequent in-person focus group. RESULTS: A total of 31 experts participated in the first online round, with 27 (87%) completing all online rounds, and 17 (55%) attending the in-person consensus meeting. Consensus was reached on 122 statements relating to pre-, peri- and postoperative rehabilitation of LFS, and validated by patients. Key components of the rehabilitation pathway included prehabilitation, education, physiotherapy in every phase, early postoperative mobilization, and little movement restrictions. Patients emphasized the need for support during the return-to-work process. CONCLUSIONS: This process resulted in 122 expert-consensus statements on best practice rehabilitation for managing LFS, validated by patients. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: The proposed rehabilitation pathway can serve as guidance to support clinicians, reduce practice variability, and subsequently improve clinical outcomes after LFS.

The effectiveness of a mobile application-based programme for rehabilitation after total hip or knee arthroplasty: A randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty are widely performed worldwide. Patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty are often discharged after a short hospital stay. Using information and communication technologies, such as mobile applications, to provide rehabilitation services remotely may be a strategy to support patients' postoperative recovery. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation programme delivered via a mobile application among Chinese patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. SETTING: A teaching hospital in Shanghai, China. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-six patients who received a unilateral primary total hip or knee arthroplasty. METHODS: The participants were recruited in the hospital and randomised into either the experimental or control group. Once discharged from the hospital, the control group (n = 43) received usual care, and the experimental group (n = 43) received usual care plus a 6-week mobile rehabilitation programme. Outcomes were assessed three times: the day before hospital discharge and 6 and 10 weeks after discharge. Primary outcomes were the changes in scores of self-efficacy and patient-reported physical function from baseline to 6 weeks post-discharge. Secondary outcomes included changes in scores of pain, depression, anxiety, and health-related quality of life. Data were analysed using generalised estimating equations. RESULTS: At 6 weeks after hospital discharge, the experimental group showed statistically significant improvements compared to the control in scores of self-efficacy (adjusted mean difference = 0.72, 95% CI 0.31 to 1.14, P < .001) and patient-reported physical function (adjusted mean difference = 4.57, 95% CI 1.24 to 7.90, P = .007). The between-group difference in self-efficacy probably reached clinical significance. At week-10 follow-up, the experimental group had statistically significant improvements in scores of self-efficacy (adjusted mean difference = 0.64, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.95, P < .001), health-related quality of life (adjusted mean difference = 0.06, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.10, P = .018), anxiety (adjusted mean difference = -0.51, 95% CI -0.91 to -0.10, P = .015), and depression (adjusted mean difference = -0.37, 95% CI -0.66 to -0.08, P = .012). The between-group difference in self-efficacy and health-related quality of life may be clinically significant. CONCLUSION: Mobile application-based rehabilitation demonstrated potentially positive effects on patients' self-efficacy, patient-reported physical function, health-related quality of life, and levels of anxiety and depression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry on 6 July 2021 (ACTRN12621000867897).

Body activity grading strategy for cervical rehabilitation training.

A body activity grading strategy is proposed for computer-assisted cervical rehabilitation training, which employs hidden Markov model to partition an exercise into independently assessable phases and a scoring reference to rate respective kinematic features. Samples of 34 cervical rehabilitation exercises are evaluated by both manual and the proposed approaches, where the average phase segmentation difference is 93 ms, the phase scoring difference is 0.045, and the grading difference for overall samples is 5.5% between the approaches. It indicates that the proposed method has similar accuracy as physical therapists and is thus capable of performing online supervision for cervical rehabilitation training.

Vagal Nerve Stimulation: A Bibliometric Analysis of Current Research Trends.

BACKGROUND: Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has become established as an effective tool for the management of various neurologic disorders. Consequently, a growing number of VNS studies have been published over the past four decades. This study presents a bibliometric analysis investigating the current trends in VNS literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the Web of Science collection data base, a search was performed to identify literature that discussed applications of VNS from 2000 to 2021. Analysis and visualization of the included literature were completed with VOSviewer. RESULTS: A total of 2895 publications were identified. The number of articles published in this area has increased over the past two decades, with the most citations (7098) occurring in 2021 and the most publications (270) in 2020. The h-index, i-10, and i-100 were 97, 994, and 91, respectively, with 17.0 citations per publication on average. The highest-producing country and institution of VNS literature were the United States and the University of Texas, respectively. The most productive journal was Epilepsia. Epilepsy was the predominant focus of VNS research, with the keyword "epilepsy" having the greatest total link strength (749) in the keyword analysis. The keyword analysis also revealed two major avenues of VNS research: 1) the mechanisms by which VNS modulates neural circuitry, and 2) therapeutic applications of VNS in a variety of diseases beyond neurology. It also showed a significant prevalence of noninvasive VNS research. Although epilepsy research appears more linked to implanted VNS, headache and depression specialists were more closely associated with noninvasive VNS. CONCLUSION: VNS may serve as a promising intervention for rehabilitation beyond neurologic applications, with an expanding base of literature over the past two decades. Although epilepsy researchers have produced most current literature, other fields have begun to explore VNS as a potential treatment, likely owing to the rise of noninvasive forms of VNS.

A Mapping Review of Real-Time Movement Sonification Systems for Movement Rehabilitation.

Movement sonification is emerging as a useful tool for rehabilitation, with increasing evidence in support of its use. To create such a system requires component considerations outside of typical sonification design choices, such as the dimension of movement to sonify, section of anatomy to track, and methodology of motion capture. This review takes this emerging and highly diverse area of literature and keyword-code existing real-time movement sonification systems, to analyze and highlight current trends in these design choices, as such providing an overview of existing systems. A combination of snowballing through relevant existing reviews and a systematic search of multiple databases were utilized to obtain a list of projects for data extraction. The review categorizes systems into three sections: identifying the link between physical dimension to auditory dimension used in sonification, identifying the target anatomy tracked, identifying the movement tracking system used to monitor the target anatomy. The review proceeds to analyze the systematic mapping of the literature and provide results of the data analysis highlighting common and innovative design choices used, irrespective of application, before discussing the findings in the context of movement rehabilitation. A database containing the mapped keywords assigned to each project are submitted with this review.

Treatment of ACL injury in a professional soccer player during COVID-19 lockdown

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries stand out as the most severe in sports such as soccer. This study presents the rehabilitation process of a professional soccer player who suffered a total ACL tear. It details the treatment performed after the surgical intervention and all the adaptations that had to be applied in the rehabilitation process due to the lockdown period established at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period comprised between weeks 9 and 21 post-surgery, the rehabilitation treatment was carried out virtually, adapting the actions, work environment and equipment used. Despite the limitations it entailed, the virtual format and the adaptations in the treatment allowed the rehabilitation process to continue, fulfilling all the pre-established objectives and deadlines with a consequent satisfactory and safe return to competitive sport. After carrying out a bibliographic research, no clinical cases have been found regarding the adaptation of the rehabilitation process of an ACL reconstruction in a professional soccer player during the COVID-19 lockdown. (AU)

Intelligent Classification Technique of Hand Motor Imagery Using EEG Beta Rebound Follow-Up Pattern.

To apply EEG-based brain-machine interfaces during rehabilitation, separating various tasks during motor imagery (MI) and assimilating MI into motor execution (ME) are needed. Previous studies were focusing on classifying different MI tasks based on complex algorithms. In this paper, we implement intelligent, straightforward, comprehensible, time-efficient, and channel-reduced methods to classify ME versus MI and left- versus right-hand MI. EEG of 30 healthy participants undertaking motional tasks is recorded to investigate two classification tasks. For the first task, we first propose a "follow-up" pattern based on the beta rebound. This method achieves an average classification accuracy of 59.77% ± 11.95% and can be up to 89.47% for finger-crossing. Aside from time-domain information, we map EEG signals to feature space using extraction methods including statistics, wavelet coefficients, average power, sample entropy, and common spatial patterns. To evaluate their practicability, we adopt a support vector machine as an intelligent classifier model and sparse logistic regression as a feature selection technique and achieve 79.51% accuracy. Similar approaches are taken for the second classification reaching 75.22% accuracy. The classifiers we propose show high accuracy and intelligence. The achieved results make our approach highly suitable to be applied to the rehabilitation of paralyzed limbs.