Review

Recent developments in biofeedback for neuromotor rehabilitation

He Huang¹ , Steven L Wolf² and Jiping He^1,3

¹  Center for Neural Interface Design in The Biodesign Institute, and Harrington Department of Bioengineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287, USA

²  Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, USA

³  Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

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Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2006, 3:11doi:10.1186/1743-0003-3-11

Published:	21 June 2006

Abstract

The original use of biofeedback to train single muscle activity in static positions or movement unrelated to function did not correlate well to motor function improvements in patients with central nervous system injuries. The concept of task-oriented repetitive training suggests that biofeedback therapy should be delivered during functionally related dynamic movement to optimize motor function improvement. Current, advanced technologies facilitate the design of novel biofeedback systems that possess diverse parameters, advanced cue display, and sophisticated control systems for use in task-oriented biofeedback. In light of these advancements, this article: (1) reviews early biofeedback studies and their conclusions; (2) presents recent developments in biofeedback technologies and their applications to task-oriented biofeedback interventions; and (3) discusses considerations regarding the therapeutic system design and the clinical application of task-oriented biofeedback therapy. This review should provide a framework to further broaden the application of task-oriented biofeedback therapy in neuromotor rehabilitation.