During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, different technologies, including telehealth, are maximised to mitigate the risks and consequences of the disease. Telehealth has been widely utilised because of its usability and safety in providing healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a systematic literature review which provides extensive evidence on the impact of COVID-19 through telehealth and which covers multiple directions in a large-scale research remains lacking. This study aims to review telehealth literature comprehensively since the pandemic started. It also aims to map the research landscape into a coherent taxonomy and characterise this emerging field in terms of motivations, open challenges and recommendations. Articles related to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic were systematically searched in the WOS, IEEE, Science Direct, Springer and Scopus databases. The final set included (n=86) articles discussing telehealth applications with respect to (i) control (n=25), (ii) technology (n=14) and (iii) medical procedure (n=47). Since the beginning of the pandemic, telehealth has been presented in diverse cases. However, it still warrants further attention. Regardless of category, the articles focused on the challenges which hinder the maximisation of telehealth in such times and how to address them. With the rapid increase in the utilization of telehealth in different specialised hospitals and clinics, a potential framework which reflects the authors’ implications of the future application and opportunities of telehealth has been established. This article improves our understanding and reveals the full potential of telehealth during these difficult times and beyond.

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Loss of the ability to speak or hear exerts psychological and social impacts on the affected persons due to the lack of proper communication. Multiple and systematic scholarly interventions that vary according to context have been implemented to overcome disability-related difficulties. Sign language recognition (SLR) systems based on sensory gloves are significant innovations that aim to procure data on the shape or movement of the human hand. Innovative technology for this matter is mainly restricted and dispersed. The available trends and gaps should be explored in this research approach to provide valuable insights into technological environments. Thus, a review is conducted to create a coherent taxonomy to describe the latest research divided into four main categories: development, framework, other hand gesture recognition, and reviews and surveys. Then, we conduct analyses of the glove systems for SLR device characteristics, develop a roadmap for technology evolution, discuss its limitations, and provide valuable insights into technological environments. This will help researchers to understand the current options and gaps in this area, thus contributing to this line of research.

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