There were innovative robots in action. There were moving stories from patients about rehabilitation, and inspiring presentations.
And there were even seated exercises to boost energy levels during the morning.
RehabTech Together 2026 ticked all the boxes for the 170 delegates who gathered at Nottingham Contemporary in September and came away highly energised by the experience.
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) annual conference was a break from tradition in terms of its format and content, as delegates met to discuss the future of rehabilitation technology.
It was organised as a joint event with EMERGE RehabTech, a technology accelerator award funded by UKRI which is based at Nottingham Trent University, and had a strong “public voice” overall, with close involvement from public contributors throughout.
Another strong emphasis was on accessibility, with live streaming of key sessions over YouTube to reach those with an interest in rehabilitation technology who have restricted mobility and could not travel into Nottingham in person. On the day 114 people watched the livestream.
RehabTech Together was also scheduled during an afternoon and into the evening on 16th September, to make the timing more accessible to busy clinicians from NUH, whose collaboration is invaluable to progressing the overall rehab agenda.
The day opened with a video featuring patients outlining what rehabilitation means to them, reminding people of the essential mission of this NIHR funded research infrastructure scheme, which is based at Nottingham University Hospitals.
The layout of the Contemporary art gallery helped showcase the “wow” factor of technology and the impact it can make. Some of the latest robots from developers CHART and Cobot Maker Space drew crowds when they were demonstrated from the terrace of the venue with a further innovators and public demos in the Blend Cafe space.
All of the technology on display is aimed at improving rehabilitation and patient outcomes for a range of conditions and included HRC and EMERGE supported projects such as HeadX and Exphand.
Talks were also co-presented by an innovator and either a clinician of one of the patient contributors that have been involved in the work to help give a well-rounded look at how working across groups aids in technology development and success.