Design and Assessment of a Remote Vibrotactile Biofeedback System for Neuromotor Rehabilitation Using Active Markers

Abstract

One of most important aspects in neuromotor rehabilitation, is the need for the patient to having a feedback about the success of performing exercises prescribed by the therapist. This feedback is commonly carried out by therapist, telling the patient if they realize their exercises correctly; however this process is subject to the appreciation of the therapist and the patient. On the other hand, recent studies show that vibrotactile biofeedback is a very useful tool in the physiological process of neuromotor rehabilitation. This work presents the design, construction and evaluation of the operation of a remote system of neuromotor rehabilitation of the upper limbs using active markers and image processing. The purpose of this system is to assist patients with injuries to shoulders, elbows or wrists, providing a feedback audio-vibrotactile as a factor of correction in the movements of the patient. The system has a graphical interface for the user to set the length of the session and to detect the correct position of the active marker; it will display both the number of hits, as the average time between them. Currently test was performed with eight different patients, taking an accurate measurement of patient outcomes in different sessions.