Rehab Times

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a complex disease characterized by cardiomyopathic hypokinesis and left ventricular interior hypertrophy. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an established treatment for some cardiovascular diseases; however, the outcomes of early CR for patients with DCM remain underexplored.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic disability worldwide, affecting more than 15 million people each year, with about three-quarters experiencing long-term functional impairments. This makes it crucial to develop long-term rehabilitation programs that can promote motor relearning, enhance neural plasticity, and restore daily motor function. Robot-assisted rehabilitation, which combines neuroscience, biomechanics, and advanced control systems, is emerging as a highly promising approach.

A team of researchers at the University of Jyväskylä (JYU) has developed and tested a new virtual reality (VR) training task designed to help stroke survivors living with visuospatial neglect (VSN), a disabling condition that affects attention and awareness of one side of space. The exploratory case study is among the first to integrate audiovisual cues within a physiotherapy-based VR task to support rehabilitation.