Mobile technology is poised to revolutionize rehabilitation research, but the infrastructure and training to support researchers in designing effective studies, collecting and analyzing data, and translating findings to improve care has not kept pace with the mobile technology industry. Our Center for Reliable Sensor Technology-Based Outcomes for Rehabilitation (RESTORE Center) will establish vital research infrastructure and training that enables rehabilitation scientists to use mobile sensors to monitor a diverse set of real-world outcomes. We will accomplish this by integrating expertise from bioengineering, statistics, computer science, mobile health, and clinical rehabilitation. Our mission is to launch a world-wide collaboration involving hundreds of researcher teams to collect and share real world data on rehabilitation outcomes. To achieve this, we will: 1. Provide state-of-the-art software to convert wearable sensor data into meaningful outcome metrics, create a data sharing repository with a vast set of movement and outcome data, and develop advanced data science tools to gain insight from real-world rehabilitation datasets. 2. Train thousands of rehabilitation scientists to use mobile technology for research through bootcamps, conference-based tutorials, an online knowledgebase, and massive open online courses. 3. Attract and train talented scholars from physical therapy, physiatry, computer science, biomechanics, and other fields to become experts in mobile technology and the needs of the rehabilitation community. 4. Award 65 seed grants to innovative and meritorious projects to accelerate the use of mobile technology in rehabilitation research and advance patient care. 5. Encourage the appropriate use of mobile technology in rehabilitation research and foster interdisciplinary collaborations through a multi-faceted promotion effort. Our broad outreach program will expand the group of over 14,000 researchers who are currently using our resources. 6. Establish a cohesive, vibrant, and sustainable Medical Rehabilitation Research Resource Center through the leadership of an experienced executive team that will manage the Center?s activities. By providing high-quality, in-demand, and open-source software tools, our Center will enable a collaboration of unprecedented scale between bioengineers, physical therapists, computer scientists, patients, physicians, and others focused on rehabilitation. Our training efforts will create a new generation of rehabilitation scientists who are fluent in the strengths and challenges of mobile technology. Our Center will be run by a tightly integrated clinical and engineering team, enabling us to appreciate the needs and goals of patients, recruit participants to our studies, and rapidly create valuable new technology. Together with the RESTORE Center community, we will achieve the potential of mobile technology to monitor real world function and improve care for conditions including stroke, Parkinson?s disease, osteoarthritis, frailty, cerebral palsy, and low back pain.
Millions of individuals suffer from pain and loss of function due to conditions like stroke, osteoarthritis, low back pain, cerebral palsy, and age-related frailty. Rehabilitation can improve function and quality of life, but current rehabilitation practice requires in-person guidance by a skilled clinician, increasing expense and limiting access. This project will provide vital research infrastructure and training opportunities, bringing together researchers from rehabilitation medicine, computer science, and bioengineering who are applying mobile technology to revolutionize how we diagnose, monitor, and treat mobility limitations.
