Date of Award
Spring 2007
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Winters, Jack M.
Second Advisor
Johnson, Michelle J.
Third Advisor
Stoeckmann, Tina M.
Abstract
During the last decade the disability and aging population has kept increasing worldwide (Mackay and Mensah 2004; United Nations 2006). In the United States, for example, stroke, the leading cause of disability, affects about 5.6 million individuals today, resulting in an estimated direct and indirect cost of $62.7 billion (Rosamond et al. 2007); the aging population (persons 65 years or older) had grown to 36.8 million in 2005, about one in every eight Americans (AoA 2006). Economic pressure on the healthcare system, however, has gradually shifted the burden to outpatient and home healthcare with limited supervision (Ottenbacher et al. 2004). As addressed in Chapter 2, there is a need for alternative approaches to rehabilitation, especially neurorehabilitation, that are cost effective while also providing a greater amount of therapy. It will be seen that Electrical & Information Technology (E&IT), including access to information and new services, has a role to play to address this challenge...