Dear Colleagues,

Although mental health issues have become a major concern in modern society, progress in effectively addressing them is still hampered by stigma and limited access to high-quality care. Clinical engineering is now extending its reach to support mental health initiatives, having previously concentrated on designing, developing, and optimising healthcare technologies. Clinical engineering technologies are revolutionising the monitoring, treatment, and understanding of mental health through advancements like wearable biosensors, telepsychiatry platforms, neuroimaging tools, brain-computer interfaces, and AI-assisted diagnostic systems. By normalising mental health care within the larger healthcare ecosystem, these advancements not only enhance patient outcomes but also present chances to address stigma.

Adoption of new clinical engineering technologies holds great promise for improving mental health care's inclusivity, personalisation, and accessibility. Simultaneously, the incorporation of these technologies presents significant ethical, data privacy, and equitable implementation issues that require interdisciplinary cooperation to resolve.Through the use of cutting-edge technologies for assessment, intervention, and rehabilitation, this special issue seeks to examine the revolutionary role that clinical engineering can play in improving mental health support and lowering stigma. It will also look at how engineering-driven solutions can change societal attitudes towards mental health, foster acceptance, and dispel myths. The issue also aims to assess the implications of incorporating these innovations into healthcare systems from a practical, ethical, and policy standpoint. In the end, it highlights innovative avenues for promoting inclusive, stigma-free mental health practices by highlighting cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Dr. Rohit Bansal

Dr. Remya Lathabhavan

Dr. Poojha Chaturvedi Shharma

Guest Editors

Keywords: Clinical engineering; Emerging technologies; Mental health support; Stigma reduction; Well-being; Inclusive healthcare; Neuroengineering; Digital health; Artificial intelligence; Telepsychiatry