1) Egocentric video: a new tool to evaluate hand function at home – The recovery of hand function is a key priority after cervical spinal cord injury and stroke. Hand function gain observed in the clinic do not always translate directly to greater use in the community. Video recordings from wearable cameras (egocentric video) provide a unique window into the function and challenges taking place at home after neurological injuries. This talk will present work on using egocentric video as the basis for new outcome measures in research, as well as to support clinical decision-making in outpatient care. Attendees will learn about data collection protocols for this type of device, and gain an understanding of how AI-based processing can be used to extract quantitative metrics and search for relevant information in egocentric video recordings.

Dr. José Zariffa is the KITE Chair in Spinal Cord Injury Research, a Senior Scientist and the Associate Director, Scientific at the KITE Research Institute – Toronto Rehab – University Health Network. He is also an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto. His research interests focus on neuroprosthetics and technology for upper limb neurorehabilitation, encompassing work in wearable sensors, neural interfaces, electrophysiology, and machine learning. Dr. Zariffa’s team was awarded the Grand Prize in the Spinal Cord Rehab Innovation Challenge, a national competition focused on new tools to measure rehab activities and their impact.

2) Virtual and Telerehab Applications in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation– Home based cardiovascular rehabilitation has been a mechanism for program delivery over many decades with demonstrated effectiveness and safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many programs shifted entirely to virtual delivery for many months. Guidance on appropriate structure, staffing and algorithms were developed. Many programs continue to offer a virtual stream for a proportion of patients. Resources to support patients and professionals have been developed and shared. This presentation will touch on all of these experiences.

Dr. Paul Oh is the GoodLife Fitness Chair in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Program at Toronto Rehab, and a Senior Scientist at KITE. Dr. Oh’s research activities examine ways to design, implement and evaluate the best approaches to cardiac rehabilitation. Themes include the role of exercise, risk factor management, enhanced self-management, technologies to support healthy behaviour, patient education models, and analyzing cardiovascular databases to better understand long-term patient outcomes.