Talk Abstract: This keynote talk will review recent advances in the application of digital health technologies to the field of tele-rehabilitation. We will show how relying on digital health technologies and on machine learning algorithms, researchers have developed approaches suitable to derive accurate estimates of clinical scores via the analysis of data collected during the performance of functional movements. Examples provided during the lecture will include techniques to assess motor impairments and functional limitations from sensor and video data. We will discuss how digital technologies can be used to collect data to generate feedback during the performance of rehabilitation exercises outside of the clinic. Finally, we will discuss how these technologies can transform the way rehabilitation interventions are designed and implemented as they enable tracking individual responses to clinical interventions.

Paolo Bonato, Ph.D., serves as Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston MA. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston University College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. He has held Adjunct Faculty positions at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, the University of Ireland Galway, and the University of Melbourne. His research work is focused on the development of rehabilitation technologies with special emphasis on digital health technology and robotics. Dr. Bonato served as the Founding Editor-in- Chief of Journal on NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. He serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics and as Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine. Also, he serves as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology. Dr. Bonato served as an Elected Member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) AdCom (2007-2010) and as IEEE EMBS Vice President for Publications (2013-2016). He served as President of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (2008-2010). He received the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy in 1989 and the Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Universita` di Roma “La Sapienza” in 1995.

Talk abstract: Wearable technologies, integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), present promising solutions to tackle healthcare challenges. These technologies can enable smart assistive platforms for home-based medical interventions and remote management of illnesses. By leveraging AI-powered wearables, real-time patient monitoring can be possible, with the platform autonomously analyzing and tracking physiological biomarkers. In this talk, Dr. Saikia will discuss the prospects of next-generation multi-modal medical-grade wearable healthcare devices to support comprehensive and real-time remote health assessments. He will present the design and development of biomedical sensors, bio-instrumentation, embedded systems, bio-signal processing, AI methods and experiment studies for innovating next-generation wearables. He will cover human-subject clinical studies, and the human-in-the-loop iterative design, development, and deployment approach where patients, clinicians, and engineers work together to develop new technologies to solve real-world healthcare problems.

Bio: Dr. Saikia is currently an Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Memphis. He was an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering department at the University of North Florida, from Aug. 2022 to July 2024. He is the founder and director of the Biomedical Sensors & Systems Lab. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Full Member of Sigma Xi. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island (2019), a Master’s of Science in Bio-Electronics Engineering (2013), and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics Engineering (2009). He was a Research Associate in the School of Engineering, Tufts University, from Sep. 2019 to July 2022. He was also a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Engineering, Boston College, from May 2022 to July 2022. From Jan. 2016 to July 2019, he worked as a Research Assistant in a project funded by the National Science Foundation, USA at the University of Rhode Island. From 2012 to 2015, he was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, working at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, India. His experience and expertise are focused on Biomedical Sensors and Systems, Bio-instrumentation, Embedded Systems, Internet-of-Things (IoT), Bio-signal Processing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Neural Engineering.