University of Quebec in Montreal

Published purpose

Musculoskeletal health decline is common in older adults and in astronauts returning from extended space missions. The main purpose of this project is to assess whether wireless blood flow restriction (BFR) technology implemented through telehealth can become a first-choice exercise delivery and monitoring tool in remote environments, like rural areas and outer space. Its primary objective is to determine and optimize the effectiveness of BFR technology to preserve health among physically inactive older adults and long-term hospitalized adults confined to bed rest and determine if it is feasible to use this technology remotely. BFR training combines low intensity exercise with blood flow occlusion and has been shown to be safe and effective in improving musculoskeletal health. Recently, BFR technology became wireless and affordable. As well, wireless BFR training can be performed in small areas like hospital beds and space exploration capsules and enable use of small equipment and low training intensities. Individuals cannot always benefit from in-person training due to being situated in hard to access environments like rural areas and outer space. Remote exercise and telerehabilitation platforms have shown that telehealth can be an effective way to deliver training. Thus, this project will optimize the use of wireless BFR technology with telehealth in delivering remote BFR training improving musculoskeletal health for astronauts and Canadians at large. It will also provide an opportunity for the next generation of Canadian researchers to acquire an expertise in BFR training and impact the future development of space mission design and musculoskeletal injury rehabilitation. Canadians will benefit from a technology and training technique allowing them to potentially recover faster and more effectively from musculoskeletal injuries.