Physical therapy for stroke survivors has long relied on the physical presence and hands-on expertise of therapists walking alongside their patients. Now, a remarkable technological leap is reshaping this dynamic. Researchers at Northwestern University in collaboration with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab have unveiled a revolutionary rehabilitation system that forges a direct, real-time link between therapists and patients via robotic exoskeletons. This novel system, known as Therapist-Exoskeleton-Patient Interaction (TEPI), ushers in a new era of highly adaptive, personalized post-stroke gait therapy.
At the heart of TEPI lies a pair of lower-limb exoskeletons worn by the therapist and the stroke survivor, virtually coupled at the hips and knees through a sophisticated control interface. The virtual connection mimics the behavior of springs and shock absorbers, dynamically transmitting forces and movements between the two exoskeletons. This bidirectional, compliant coupling enables therapists to intuitively influence patient gait patterns in real time, offering a level of interaction that is vastly more nuanced than conventional robotic or manual therapies.
Traditional stroke rehabilitation often involves therapists physically assisting patients through limited aspects of movement, constrained by human strength and availability. In contrast, TEPI leverages robotics to augment the therapist’s capacity, delivering whole-body gait training that adjusts fluidly to the patient’s evolving performance. The hands-on adaptability of therapists is thus preserved but enhanced with robotic precision and scalability, facilitating more comprehensive, sustained walking practice without requiring multiple caregivers.
The core engineering breakthrough enabling TEPI is a control framework that models the mechanical interaction between therapist and patient exoskeletons as a coupled spring-damper system. This design imparts compliance and responsiveness, harmonizing the biomechanical inputs from both participants while preventing unnatural or jarring forces. By embedding this interactive virtual linkage, TEPI provides continuous haptic feedback to therapists, allowing them to modulate support, resistance, and corrective assistance in tune with patient movement intentions.
In a recent clinical evaluation published in Science Robotics, TEPI demonstrated superior outcomes compared to conventional therapist-guided treadmill training. Stroke survivors using the system achieved significantly greater joint range of motion, executed longer and higher stepping patterns, and maintained muscle activation at levels comparable to or exceeding standard therapy regimes. Importantly, patient motivation and enjoyment remained consistently high, underlining the system’s potential to foster engagement and adherence during demanding rehabilitation processes.
The TEPI platform addresses prominent limitations of current rehabilitation exoskeletons, many of which rely on rigid, preprogrammed gait cycles that lack real-time adaptability. By contrast, TEPI integrates therapist expertise directly into the robotic control loop, enabling instantaneous behavioral adjustments that match the patient’s unique recovery trajectory. This synergy of human judgment and machine assistance embodies a new paradigm in rehabilitation robotics, where technology serves to amplify, not replace, therapeutic skill.
José L. Pons, the project’s visionary leader and a professor at Northwestern, emphasizes that TEPI’s promise lies in its ability to unify the therapeutic closeness of manual training with the replicability and intensity of robotic interventions. Such hybrid systems are poised to transform stroke recovery protocols by bridging gaps between efficacy, accessibility, and individualized care. They not only alleviate therapist physical burden but also enhance the precision and personalization of rehabilitation exercises.
The development team included multidisciplinary experts spanning mechanical engineering, physical medicine, biomedical engineering, and robotics, fostering innovation at the interface of human-machine interaction and clinical practice. This collaboration ensured that TEPI’s control algorithms and mechanical design were continuously refined based on real-world clinical feedback, resulting in a system deeply attuned to both biomechanical and therapeutic demands.
Looking ahead, the research group plans to expand TEPI’s application beyond treadmill walking, exploring its integration into functionally critical daily activities such as overground ambulation, stair climbing, and sit-to-stand transitions. Longitudinal studies are also underway to assess the benefits of repeated therapy sessions over extended recovery periods. Additionally, efforts are progressing to miniaturize and streamline the technology for potential deployment in home environments, promising scalable remote rehabilitation solutions that can transcend geographic and logistical barriers.
TEPI’s pioneering approach was made possible by funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Robotics Initiative, reflecting the strategic importance of robotics in advancing healthcare outcomes. By embedding robotic exoskeletons within a responsive therapeutic framework, the system exemplifies how cutting-edge engineering can catalyze transformative changes in the treatment of neurological impairments.
This breakthrough not only advances rehabilitation science but also redefines the human role in therapy. TEPI empowers therapists to become active collaborators with their patients through enhanced, augmented physical connection, promoting a more effective and responsive recovery journey for stroke survivors. It stands as a shining example of innovation that is as empathetic as it is technological — a true step forward in restoring mobility and quality of life.
Subject of Research:
Robotic exoskeleton-assisted gait therapy for stroke rehabilitation through therapist-patient real-time interaction.
Article Title:
Therapist-exoskeleton-patient interaction for gait therapy
News Publication Date:
17-Jun-2026
Web References:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adz9628
Image Credits:
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Robotic exoskeletons, Robotics, Robotic gaits, Robotic walking, Physical therapy, Physical rehabilitation, Brain damage, Brain injuries, Brain ischemia, Neuromuscular diseases, Neurological disorders
A groundbreaking study from UCLA Health introduces a pioneering approach to understanding anorexia nervosa, a complex psychiatric disorder notorious for its high relapse rates and elevated mortality. Researchers employed an ingestible, vibrating capsule to probe the nuanced ways in which the nervous system of individuals with anorexia nervosa processes bodily sensations originating from the gastrointestinal tract. This innovative technology not only illuminates the enigmatic interplay between gut sensations and brain function but also offers promising predictive capabilities regarding relapse risk, potentially transforming clinical management of the disorder.
Anorexia nervosa is marked by a persistent restriction of energy intake, an intense fear of weight gain, and a distorted body image, resulting in dangerously low body weight. Despite state-of-the-art treatments aimed at restoring healthy body weight, relapse rates remain alarmingly high—up to 50% within a year post-treatment. Suicidal behavior is also a significant concern, often cited as the leading cause of death among afflicted individuals. This desperate clinical landscape underscores the urgent need for objective biomarkers and more profound mechanistic insights to improve therapeutic outcomes.
The inadequacy of current understanding centers around a crucial chasm: while physicians focus on weight normalization, many patients continue to suffer from entrenched symptoms that drive relapse, suggesting that the disorder’s etiology extends beyond mere weight regulation. The nervous system’s interpretation and integration of visceral signals, especially from the gut, could hold the key to these persistent challenges. Yet, before this study, precise tools to quantify and manipulate these signals in vivo remained elusive.
The UCLA research team harnessed a clinical trial design involving an ingestible vibrating capsule capable of delivering controlled, gentle mechanical stimuli to the stomach. This non-invasive method allowed for real-time interrogation of gastrointestinal interoception—the brain’s perception and processing of internal bodily sensations. By remotely activating the capsule, the researchers could produce varying intensities of stomach vibrations, simulating subtle gut sensations that are typically difficult to access or measure reliably.
In the study, 62 female patients who had been hospitalized for anorexia nervosa and whose body weight had been restored to clinical norms, were compared against 57 healthy controls. Participants swallowed the vibrating capsule and were instructed to indicate, via button press, whenever they perceived a vibration. Concurrent physiological monitoring tracked brain activity through neuroimaging techniques, cardiac rhythms, and stomach motility, providing a multidimensional understanding of the gut-brain axis in real time. Self-reported metrics on hunger and bodily awareness further enriched the dataset.
Employing sophisticated computational modeling, the researchers analyzed participants’ ability to detect and interpret the gastric signals. These models were designed to estimate participants’ expectation of gut sensations, their reliance on incoming sensory signals, and their adaptability in updating these expectations when signals fluctuated. This approach transcended simple sensory detection, probing fundamental cognitive processes involved in interoceptive learning and prediction error correction.
The results revealed a striking divergence between anorexia nervosa patients and healthy controls. Those with the disorder exhibited diminished accuracy in sensing subtle stomach vibrations, often unaware that a stimulus was occurring even when the capsule was active. They demonstrated a cognitive bias towards expecting an absence of gut sensations and were significantly slower to revise these expectations in the presence of confirmed visceral signals. This implies an altered central processing mechanism rather than a peripheral sensory deficit, reflecting a disconnection or miscommunication within the gut-brain axis.
Crucially, these interoceptive abnormalities persisted despite the restoration of healthy body weight, challenging the conventional clinical assumption that weight normalization is tantamount to recovery. The findings suggest that long-lasting neurobiological alterations in interoceptive processing may underlie the stubborn persistence of anorexic behaviors and cognitions, thus offering a plausible explanation for the high relapse propensity witnessed in clinical practice.
Linking these mechanistic insights to clinical outcomes, the study reported a robust association between impaired gastric signal detection and relapse risk during a six-month post-discharge follow-up period. Patients whose nervous systems exhibited the greatest bias towards ignoring bodily signals were significantly more likely to experience a relapse. This highlights the potential clinical utility of the vibrating capsule as a predictive tool, enabling healthcare providers to stratify relapse risk and tailor interventions accordingly.
From a translational perspective, the use of this ingestible technology marks a seminal advance in biomarker discovery for anorexia nervosa. It opens new avenues for personalized medicine where objective physiological metrics, rather than solely subjective symptom reports, guide therapeutic decisions. Moreover, it positions gastrointestinal interoception as a critical target for future treatment strategies, including neuromodulation, pharmacotherapy, and cognitive retraining designed to recalibrate gut-brain communication pathways.
Nevertheless, the authors caution that these findings currently pertain to a relatively homogeneous sample, primarily young female patients, and must be validated across larger and more diverse populations to confirm generalizability. Future research should also explore how different treatment modalities influence interoceptive processing and whether modulation of this axis can directly mitigate relapse risks.
In conclusion, this UCLA-led study redefines our understanding of anorexia nervosa by exposing the subtle but profound alterations in gastrointestinal interoception that endure beyond weight restoration and presage relapse. It suggests that true recovery necessitates healing not only the body but the fundamental neural processes that govern the perception and integration of internal bodily states. This insight sets the stage for an era where interoceptive biomarkers and bioelectronic medicine intersect to revolutionize the management of this devastating disorder.
Subject of Research: Gastrointestinal interoception and relapse prediction in anorexia nervosa
Article Title: Altered Gastrointestinal Interoception in Anorexia Nervosa Predicts Relapse
News Publication Date: 17-Jun-2026
Web References: http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.1301
References: Published in JAMA Psychiatry, 2026
Keywords: Anorexia nervosa, gastrointestinal interoception, relapse prediction, gut-brain axis, ingestible vibrating capsule, psychiatric biomarkers, neurobiology of eating disorders
In a significant milestone for the advancement of intelligent transport systems, representatives from fifteen partner institutions converged in the Swiss city of Winterthur for the General Assembly of the MOVEO project. Spanning two days in early June and hosted collaboratively by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) alongside the City of Winterthur, this high-level meeting marked a pivotal moment to assess the multifaceted progress achieved in this ambitious European Union-backed initiative. The assembly provided a platform for experts specializing in transport infrastructure, digitalization, and inclusivity to engage in comprehensive dialogues surrounding the integration of cutting-edge technologies across diverse transport environments.
MOVEO stands at the intersection of innovation and real-world application, targeting critical challenges faced by modern transport systems. Over the course of the assembly, attendees delved deeply into advancements across the project’s core technical domains. One focal area involved the enhancement of inspection and monitoring systems designed to surveil transport infrastructure dynamically and track traffic flows in real time. By deploying sophisticated sensors and analytic devices, the project aims to generate actionable data streams that can preemptively identify structural stresses or anomalies, ultimately elevating maintenance efficiency and passenger safety.
Another crucial theme that permeated discussions was the development of intelligent door-to-door mobility solutions catering to both passenger transit and goods logistics. These smart mobility frameworks integrate multimodal transport options, leveraging data-driven route optimization and seamless transfer protocols to facilitate efficient, sustainable travel. The capacity of such systems to adapt dynamically to user needs and traffic conditions represents a paradigm shift from traditional static schedules to responsive, user-centric mobility networks.
In tandem with technological innovation, a significant portion of the dialogue addressed the pursuit of inclusivity and accessibility within transport services and infrastructure. Realizing transport environments that accommodate the full spectrum of user abilities demands rigorous design principles and thoughtful integration of assistive technologies. MOVEO’s commitment to these objectives manifests in both hardware adaptations and software interfaces, ensuring equitable access and enhancing user experience for disabled individuals, elderly passengers, and other traditionally underserved demographics.
Central to MOVEO’s methodology is the concept of a ‘digital twin’—a sophisticated virtual replica of physical assets and operational scenarios. This digital twin platform supports the project’s demonstration sites by enabling detailed simulation, predictive modeling, and real-time monitoring in a highly scalable and flexible manner. The ability to virtually recreate and experiment within these models accelerates technology validation cycles and informs better decision-making, reducing costs and mitigating risks associated with physical trial-and-error processes.
Highlighting the project’s real-world applicability, the partners provided updates on progress across five geographically and climatically diverse demonstration sites. Two are situated in eastern Switzerland, reflecting alpine and temperate conditions, while the others span the historic landscape of Ravenna, Italy; the complex hydrological system of France’s Seine basin; and the strategic maritime hub of Klaipėda port in Lithuania. Each site serves as a living laboratory where varying infrastructure types and life cycle stages are addressed, allowing the consortium to benchmark technologies against multifaceted operational contexts.
During the assembly, a notable field visit to the Leonie-Moser bridge in Winterthur offered tangible insight into the ongoing integration of MOVEO innovations. This upcoming bridge, slated for completion in September 2026, will link the districts of Oberwinterthur and Grüze, facilitating pedestrian and bus transit. Importantly, it forms a key node for sensor installations dedicated to monitoring passenger flows, particularly as commuters transfer between train and bus services. The instrumentation strategy exemplifies how real-time data acquisition enables nuanced understanding of multimodal transport interactions on critical infrastructure.
José Solís Hernández, project coordinator and an expert engineer from Spain’s CEMOSA, underscored the rapid progress being made in technological implementations. Reflecting on the trajectory thus far, Hernández emphasized the consortium’s focus on concluding key installation phases by the upcoming October deadline. This timeline aligns with preparatory activities for the next formal project review, during which minimum viable products (MVPs) must be finalized, demonstrating functional readiness and alignment with strategic objectives.
MOVEO’s expansive consortium harnesses expertise from nine European nations, uniting a comprehensive value chain that spans the entirety of transport and digitalization disciplines. The collective includes specialists in critical areas such as structural inspection, advanced monitoring techniques, logistics optimization, user mobility dynamics, and social inclusiveness. Engaging end-users alongside transport infrastructure managers ensures that developed solutions remain relevant, practical, and attuned to operational realities.
The innovative research underpinning MOVEO crystallizes around five core pillars. Firstly, infrastructure assessment and redesign leverages analytical tools to evaluate existing assets, proposing modifications that enhance resilience and adaptability. Secondly, inspection and monitoring integrate sensor networks and diagnostic technologies to maintain operational integrity. The third pillar, digitalized mobility, focuses on user-centered, data-driven solutions that redefine transit experiences. Smart logistics form the fourth pillar, addressing the efficient movement of goods with a sustainability lens. Finally, inclusiveness and accessibility aim to democratize mobility services, ensuring no user is left behind regardless of physical or cognitive barriers.
Backed by nearly five million euros in funding through the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework, MOVEO is positioned for a 42-month research phase culminating in October 2028. This substantial financial support reflects the high strategic importance assigned to the project, especially amidst rising pressures to modernize transport infrastructure in alignment with environmental, economic, and social objectives. The collaborative approach fosters cross-border innovation, ensuring outcomes deliver broad-reaching impacts for European mobility systems and beyond.
Ultimately, MOVEO exemplifies how integrative, interdisciplinary research can be effectively mobilized to tackle the complexities of future transport demand. By bridging digital technology with physical infrastructure and emphasizing user inclusivity, the project charts a course toward a smarter, safer, and more sustainable mobility ecosystem. As installations near completion and the demonstrator sites become fully operational, MOVEO’s innovations promise to inform policy, guide industry practices, and elevate standards across the entire European transportation landscape.
Subject of Research: Transport infrastructure monitoring, digitalized mobility, and inclusive transport solutions in Europe.
Article Title: (Not provided)
News Publication Date: (Not provided)
Web References: https://mediasvc.eurekalert.org/Api/v1/Multimedia/27a1c0f0-d8a7-487e-97b3-ebce96f60ef7/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public
References: (Not provided)
Image Credits: European Science Communication Institute gGmbH
Keywords: MOVEO project, transport infrastructure, digital twin, sensor monitoring, multimodal mobility, smart logistics, transport inclusiveness, European Union Horizon Europe, infrastructure assessment, pedestrian flow monitoring
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