Abstract
Virtual reality technologies have been experimented for several years for post-stroke motor rehabilitation, but there is too little diffusion of these systems among medical facilities and none among patients. Our objective is the development of an interactive system to assist motor rehabilitation of the upper limb after a stroke, which retains the medical benefits of traditional post-stroke methods while reducing human costs (usable with minimal supervision) and materials (general public), and facilitating active patient participation. System architecture, 3D interactions and virtual content are based on an iterative, user-centered design methodology with patients and therapists. The system allows users to perform repetitive and intensive tasks with the upper limb. The paretic hand is tracked with a low-cost depth sensor. Kinematic performance is monitored and visual feedbacks are proposed. Preliminary tests were conducted on a non-immersive prototype, with eight patients and a target pointing task. The results showed good usability and high acceptance from the users.
Highlights
Stroke is a leading cause of disability worldwide
We propose a Virtual Reality (VR)-based system for assisting motor recovery of the upper limb, which retains at least the medical benefits of traditional post-stroke methods, while reducing human and material costs and facilitating active patient participation
Eight naive participants participated in this study (5 male, 3 female; aged 26-77, mean=51.2; 6 with right hand paresis; seven patients in chronic phase - more than 6 months after stroke - including one patient with sickle cell anemia and one patient with a cervical spondylotic myelopathy)
Summary
Stroke is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Because of the aging population, the costs of stroke care will become a greater problem in the years to come [20]. It is well established that post-stroke motor recovery is activity-dependent and can be produced with training programs that are repetitive (large amount of movements), intensive (in terms of time and active participation of the patient) and goal-oriented (i.e. organized around clear and concrete objectives, rather than focusing solely on particular movements or muscles) [24]. The greater part of recovery is reported to take place in the first three months following stroke [22], but progress can be seen throughout the chronic phase (after six months) [23]. Rehabilitation should be done as soon as and as long as possible
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