Kinematic Metrics Based on the Virtual Reality System Toyra as an Assessment of the Upper Limb Rehabilitation in People with Spinal Cord Injury

The aim of this study was to develop new strategies based on virtual reality that can provide additional information to clinicians for the rehabilitation assessment. Virtual reality system Toyra has been used to record kinematic information of 15 patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) while performing evaluation sessions using the mentioned system. Positive correlation, with a moderate and very strong association, has been found between clinical scales and kinematic data, considering only the subscales more closely related to the upper limb function. A set of metrics was defined combining these kinematic data to obtain parameters of reaching amplitude, joint amplitude, agility, accuracy, and repeatability during the evaluation sessions of the virtual reality system Toyra. Strong and moderate correlations have been also found between the metrics reaching and joint amplitude and the clinical scales.

Download Full-text

Virtual Reality System Toyra: A New Tool to Assess and Treatment for Upper Limb Motor Impairment in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Converging Clinical and Engineering Research on Neurorehabilitation - Biosystems & Biorobotics ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-34546-3_139 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 853-858 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Iris Dimbwadyo-Terrer ◽

Ana de los Reyes-Guzmán ◽

Alberto Bernal-Sahún ◽

Patricia López-Monteagudo ◽

Fernando Trincado-Alonso ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Motor Impairment ◽

Virtual Reality System ◽

Cord Injury

Download Full-text

Clinical, Functional and Kinematic Correlations using the Virtual Reality System Toyra® as Upper Limb Rehabilitation Tool in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Proceedings of the International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics ◽

10.5220/0004642600810088 ◽

2013 ◽

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Virtual Reality System ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

Download Full-text

Virtual Reality Environment with Haptic Feedback Thimble for Post Spinal Cord Injury Upper-Limb Rehabilitation

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11062476 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 2476

Author(s):

Álvaro Gutiérrez ◽

Nicola Farella ◽

Ángel Gil-Agudo ◽

Ana de los Reyes Guzmán

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Virtual Reality ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Haptic Feedback ◽

Cervical Spinal Cord ◽

Virtual Reality Environment ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

Cervical spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in body functions below the site of the injury. In particular, the impairment of the upper limbs limits the patient’s autonomy in the execution of activities of daily living. This paper illustrates the use of a low-cost robot with a virtual reality platform for upper limb rehabilitation of cervical spinal cord injury patients. Vibration and pressure haptic feedback sensations are provided thanks to a custom-made thimble feedback device. The virtual reality platform consists of three different virtual rehabilitation games developed in Unity. They provide the user with the opportunity to interact with the virtual scene using free hands thanks to the data collected by a hand tracking system. During the therapy session, quantitative data about the motor performance are collected. Each virtual reality environment can be modified in settings according to the patients’ needs. A proof of concept was performed with both healthy subjects and spinal cord injured patients to evaluate the platform and its usability. The data saved during the sessions are analyzed to validate the importance of haptic feedback and stored both for patients and therapists to control the performance and the recovery process.

Download Full-text