Assistive telehealth systems for neurorehabilitation

Telehealth is an evolving field within the broader domain of Biomedical Engineering, specifically situated within the context of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). In today's society, the importance of Telehealth systems is increasingly recognized, as they enable remote patient treatment by physicians. One significant application in neurorehabilitation is Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), which has demonstrated its effectiveness in modulating mental function and learning over several years. Furthermore, tDCS is widely accepted as a safe approach in the field. This presentation focuses on the development of a non-invasive wearable tDCS device with integrated Internet connectivity. This IoMT device enables remote configuration of treatment parameters, such as session duration, current level, and placebo status. Clinicians can remotely access the device and define these parameters within the approved safety ranges for tDCS treatments. In addition to the wearable tDCS device, a prototype web portal is being developed to collect performance data during neurorehabilitation exercises conducted by individuals at home. This portal also facilitates remote interaction between patients and clinicians. To provide a platform-independent solution for accessing up-to-date healthcare information, a Progressive Web Application (PWA) is being developed. The PWA enables real-time communication between patients and doctors through text chat and video conferencing. The primary objective is to create a cross-platform web application with PWA features that can function effectively as a native application in various operating systems.

1. Steven David Herring, S.; Azhar, M. and Sakel, M. (2022). “Tele-tDCS: A Novel Tele-neuromodulation Framework
using Internet of Medical Things”. In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Biomedical
Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2022) - BIODEVICES; pages 84-93. DOI:
10.5220/0010882500003123.
2. M. A. Hannan Bin Azhar and J. T. Mohan, "Progressive Web App for Real-time Doctor-Patient Communication and
Searchable Health Conditions," 2022 E-Health and Bioengineering Conference (EHB), Iasi, Romania, 2022, pp. 1-5,
doi: 10.1109/EHB55594.2022.9991288.