Augmenting Body Weight Support Rehabilitation with Mixed Reality to Enhance Lower Limb Functional Recovery Post-Stroke

Traditional stroke rehabilitation can be repetitive and disengaging, leading to reduced patient adherence and slower recovery. Technology such as Mixed Reality (MR) offers a novel approach to rehabilitation by transforming repetitive exercises into immersive interactive experiences. This study investigates the use of MR to enhance lower limb rehabilitation in subacute stroke patients by integrating immersive exercises with a dynamic body weight support system (the Vector Gait and Safety System). Our system features interactive tasks, including stepping exercises, obstacle avoidance, hand-eye coordination drills, and balance challenges, designed to improve mobility, coordination, and engagement.Healthcare professionals, including doctors and physical therapists, participated in hands-on trials and provided structured feedback. The results indicate that the system is intuitive and engaging, and offers functional benefits over conventional methods. These findings establish a foundation for future clinical trials to assess the long-term impact of MR-based rehabilitation.Clinical relevance- MR shows the potential to enhance adherence to therapy and outcomes, making it a viable complement to traditional rehabilitation approaches. This work showcases MR's potential to advance clinical rehabilitation and research in medicine and biology.