Just for athletes? State-of-the-art home rehabilitation thanks to these researchers
Publication date: 29-09-2026
Karin Gerrits (VU Amsterdam), Kristel Lankhorst (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) and Erwin van Wegen (Amsterdam UMC), Floor Hettinga (VU Amsterdam)
Personalised support and monitoring are essential for recovery following brain injury. This is precisely what is lacking outside the treatment room, leading to patients relapsing all too often. A new AI platform will soon offer therapists objective insights at home too, thanks to Amsterdam researchers involved in a unique collaborative project.
If athletes are continuously monitored, why not rehabilitation patients?
The idea came from researchers Karin Gerrits (VU Amsterdam) and Kristel Lankhorst (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences): if elite athletes are continuously monitored with sensors and data, why not rehabilitation patients? Together with Amsterdam UMC and medtech company Orikami, a three-year research project began in March 2026, called trAIn@home, and funded by Health Holland.
Tailored coaching outside of the clinic: trAIn@home
Using wearables and an app, the platform collects data such as heart rate, activity level and sleep quality. AI translates this into personal training advice based on “training readiness”: how much exertion someone can handle at a given moment.
“The transition from intensive guidance to rehabilitation at home is a vulnerable moment,” says Erwin van Wegen, associate professor of Neurorehabilitation at Amsterdam UMC. “People lack personalized advice, are unsure how much strain they can handle, and become demotivated.”
From prototype to patient
If the research succeeds, those involved foresee a bigger impact: better quality of care against lower healthcare costs. Floor Hettinga VU Amsterdam adds to this: “That leaves therapists more time for patients who need more complex care.”
Each partner has its own role: VU Amsterdam coordinates and validates the data, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences handles practice-based research and co-creation with users, Amsterdam UMC provides clinical and methodological expertise, and Orikami builds the platform and keeps an eye on its viability in the market.
Orikami’s involvement from the start is deliberate: its commercial goal pushes the consortium to rigorously test whether the app works and is privacy-safe. The research proceeds in stages, from prototype to real-world trial. If successful, follow-up funding will be needed for a public app.
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