Technology supported rehabilitation for treatment of subacute and chronic spinal problems (R-4579)

Low back and neck problems are a common problem that lead to limitations in the daily functioning of the patient and a reduced quality of life. In Belgium 19.8% of the working population experiences back problems, and in Europe this figure mounts up to 24.7%. The social costs of low back and neck pain are very high, partly due to long-term (para) medical care and absenteeism. There is expected to be an increase of spinal problems between 2000 and 2020 by 14%, partly due to demographic changes and an increasing sedentary lifestyle. Exercise therapy with a functional approach as a bio psychosocial model may have positive effects for reducing back pain, and causes an increase in the function of the spine. As one can treat earlier and more intensive he increases the chances of success of therapy and also reduces the costs associated with long-term illness. The increasing pressure on the health system requires innovative approaches to meet the high and growing demand for care. Technology supported rehabilitation plays a unique role here by offering individual exercise therapy as a functional approach, which is motivating and adapted to the level of the patient. It can be expected that the patient is willing to frequently repeat certain exercises, which can lead to increased treatment effects. Another added value could be that patients perform the therapy at home on manner guided by feedback through which patients with spinal problems just in the subacute phase get better guidance and can practice more. Besides, technology offers options to observe patients after discharge from the hospital or rehabilitation center, by which detection of relapses becomes possible as well as encouraging to resume a new/modified exercise program. Rehabilitation technology has passed the last decade through very rapid developments. However, most rehabilitation technologies that have been developed aimed to support neurological rehabilitation (especially after stroke). The development of rehabilitation technology for musculoskeletal problems is still in infancy. Compared for neurological rehabilitation where, after a development period of about lS years, in recent years the first large-scale clinical trials have been published, there are to this day still no results concerning effectiveness of technology supporting functional training for spinal problems. The objectives of this project are: 1) mapping of existing technology-enhanced training methods for spinal problems and potential training effects, 2) the development of a training concept for motoric rehabilitation in spinal problems, which is suitable for implementation of exercises in technological systems, 3) to evaluate the effects of functional technology supported training with back and neck problems

Keywords:Exercise therapy, Immunological effects (animal, human), Musculoskeletal research (human), Neurological rehabilitation, Neuroplasticity (human), Robot-assisted rehabilitation (human)

Disciplines:Biomechanical engineering