As global populations age, conditions such as stroke and diabetes requires individuals to use rehabilitation technology for many years to come due to chronic musculoskeletal, sensory and other physical impairments. One in four males currently aged 45 will experience a stroke within forty years and will often require access to prolonged rehabilitation. In addition, worldwide, one individual loses a limb every thirty seconds due to the complications of diabetes. As a result, innovative ideas are required to devise more effective prosthetic and orthotic devices to enhance quality of life. In these examples, and in other applications, prostheses and orthoses impose supportive or corrective forces at the interface between the device and tissue. Current modern devices are typically static structures, incapable of adapting to the challenging performance requirements imposed on them. Whilst Nitinol has already found much favour within the biomedical industry, one area, which has not yet exploited its unique properties, is in the field of physical rehabilitation, ranging from prosthetic and orthotic devices to assistive technology such as wheelchairs. Improved intervention capabilities based on materials such as Nitinol have the potential to vastly improve patients’ quality of life and in the case of orthoses, may even improve the severity of the condition over time.