The Effect of Virtual Reality Games on Muscle Activity and Balance in Elderly Women

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Ja
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Elderly Women

scholarly journals Development of a Virtual Reality Simulator for an Intelligent Robotic System Used in Ankle Rehabilitation

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1537
Author(s):  
Florin Covaciu ◽  
Adrian Pisla ◽  
Anca-Elena Iordan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Robotic System ◽  
Virtual Reality Simulator ◽  
Robotic Rehabilitation ◽  
Rehabilitation Process ◽  
Leg Muscles ◽  
Ankle Rehabilitation ◽  
And Control

The traditional systems used in the physiotherapy rehabilitation process are evolving towards more advanced systems that use virtual reality (VR) environments so that the patient in the rehabilitation process can perform various exercises in an interactive way, thus improving the patient’s motivation and reducing the therapist’s work. The paper presents a VR simulator for an intelligent robotic system of physiotherapeutic rehabilitation of the ankle of a person who has had a stroke. This simulator can interact with a real human subject by attaching a sensor that contains a gyroscope and accelerometer to identify the position and acceleration of foot movement on three axes. An electromyography (EMG) sensor is also attached to the patient’s leg muscles to measure muscle activity because a patient who is in a worse condition has weaker muscle activity. The data collected from the sensors are taken by an intelligent module that uses machine learning to create new levels of exercise and control of the robotic rehabilitation structure of the virtual environment. Starting from these objectives, the virtual reality simulator created will have a low dependence on the therapist, this being the main improvement over other simulators already created for this purpose.

scholarly journals Virtual and augmented reality technologies in Human Performance: a review

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tânia Brusque Crocetta ◽  
Sandra Rogéria de Oliveira ◽  
Carla Maria de Liz ◽  
Alexandro Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Physical Therapists ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Information And Communication

Abstract Introduction : Today's society is influenced by Information and Communication Technologies. Toys that were once built by hand have been reinterpreted and have become highly commercialized products. In this context, games using Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are present in the everyday lives of children, youth and adults. Objective : To investigate how Physical Education professionals in Brazil have been making use of AR and VR games to benefit their work. Materials and methods : We only included studies that addressed exercise or physical activity using AR or VR games. We searched the databases of Virtual Health Library (VHL) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), using the words augmented reality, virtual reality, exergames, Wii and serious games. Results : Nineteen articles were included in the systematic review. The most frequently used device was the Nintendo(r) Wii, with over 25 different kinds of games. With regard to the subjects of the studies, four studies were conducted with healthy individuals (mean = 65.7), three with patients with Parkinson's disease (mean = 18.0), three with elderly women (mean = 7.7) and two with patients with stroke injury (mean = 6.0). Conclusion : Many physical therapists and occupational therapists use serious games with AR or VR technologies as another work tool, especially for rehabilitation practices. The fact that these technologies are also used in Physical Education classes in Brazil indicates that electronic games are available and can be a tool that can contribute to the widespread adoption of exercise as an enjoyable form of recreation.

scholarly journals Gait Patterns and Muscle Activity in the Lower Extremities of Elderly Women during Underwater Treadmill Walking against Water Flow

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoki Shono ◽  
Kenji Masumoto ◽  
Kazutaka Fujishima ◽  
Noboru Hotta ◽  
Tetsuro Ogaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Lower Extremities ◽  
Treadmill Walking ◽  
Gait Patterns

Task-Oriented and Imitation-Oriented Movements in Virtual Reality Exercise Performance and Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872082110101
Author(s):  
Ken Chen ◽  
Karen B. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Flexion Angle ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Shoulder Muscles ◽  
Shoulder Flexion ◽  
Game Features ◽  
Task Oriented

Objective This study investigated the influence of game features and practice type on human kinematic and muscular performance in a virtual reality exercise (VRE). Participants demonstrated changes in shoulder flexion angle and muscle activation under different virtual scenarios. Background Conventional VRE studies often compared the outcomes between an experimental group that underwent exercise in VR and a real-world exercise control group, whereas comparisons between VRE programs are lacking. Besides, the attributes of VREs received little attention. Method Thirteen able-bodied participants performed upper extremity exercise movements in immersive VR using a head-mounted display. Participants performed task-oriented and imitation-oriented movements with different game features. Shoulder muscle activity (the deltoid, supraspinatus, and infraspinatus) and shoulder motion were collected. Results Practice type (task-oriented, imitation-oriented) significantly influenced the flexion angle of the shoulder complex ( F(1,11) = 9.53, p = .01), and the muscle activity of the supraspinatus ( F(1,9) = 12.61, p = .006) and the infraspinatus ( F(1,9) = 12.71, p = .006). Game features did not have a statistically significant effect on shoulder flexion angle or shoulder muscles’ activations. Conclusions Compared to imitation-oriented practice, task-oriented practice elicited more intensive shoulder movements and muscular efforts but also induced greater movement variations. Substantial differences across game features levels should be further investigated to have significant effects. Applications This research may help guide the design of future VREs. For strength training or rehabilitation where intensive practice is required, task-oriented practice should be considered; for movement learning where movement consistency is required, imitation oriented practice should be adopted.

scholarly journals A Virtual Reality Muscle–Computer Interface for Neurorehabilitation in Chronic Stroke: A Pilot Study

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Octavio Marin-Pardo ◽  
Christopher M. Laine ◽  
Miranda Rennie ◽  
Kaori L. Ito ◽  
James Finley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Chronic Stroke ◽  
Stroke Recovery ◽  
Brain Computer Interfaces ◽  
Chronic Stage ◽  
Computer Interfaces ◽  
Standard Clinical Practice

Severe impairment of limb movement after stroke can be challenging to address in the chronic stage of stroke (e.g., greater than 6 months post stroke). Recent evidence suggests that physical therapy can still promote meaningful recovery after this stage, but the required high amount of therapy is difficult to deliver within the scope of standard clinical practice. Digital gaming technologies are now being combined with brain–computer interfaces to motivate engaging and frequent exercise and promote neural recovery. However, the complexity and expense of acquiring brain signals has held back widespread utilization of these rehabilitation systems. Furthermore, for people that have residual muscle activity, electromyography (EMG) might be a simpler and equally effective alternative. In this pilot study, we evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of an EMG-based variant of our REINVENT virtual reality (VR) neurofeedback rehabilitation system to increase volitional muscle activity while reducing unintended co-contractions. We recruited four participants in the chronic stage of stroke recovery, all with severely restricted active wrist movement. They completed seven 1-hour training sessions during which our head-mounted VR system reinforced activation of the wrist extensor muscles without flexor activation. Before and after training, participants underwent a battery of clinical and neuromuscular assessments. We found that training improved scores on standardized clinical assessments, equivalent to those previously reported for brain–computer interfaces. Additionally, training may have induced changes in corticospinal communication, as indexed by an increase in 12–30 Hz corticomuscular coherence and by an improved ability to maintain a constant level of wrist muscle activity. Our data support the feasibility of using muscle–computer interfaces in severe chronic stroke, as well as their potential to promote functional recovery and trigger neural plasticity.

Design and Evaluation of a Portable Laparoscopic Training System Using Virtual Reality

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Zahiri ◽  
Ryan Booton ◽  
Ka-Chun Siu ◽  
Carl A. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Image Processing ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Laparoscopic Surgery ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Completion Time ◽  
Training System ◽  
Surgical Instruments ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
P Value ◽  
Training Time

The ubiquitous nature of laparoscopic surgery and the decreased training time available for surgeons are driving an increased need for effective training systems to help surgeons learn different procedures. A cost-effective and user-friendly simulator has been designed to imitate specific training tasks for laparoscopic surgery in virtual environments via image processing and computer vision. The capability of using various actual surgical instruments suited for these specific procedures gives heightened fidelity to the simulator. Image processing via matlab software provides real-time mapping of the graspers in the workspace to the virtual reality (VR) environment (vizard software). Two different tasks (peg transfer and needle passing) were designed to evaluate trainees and compare their performance with characteristics of expert surgeons. Pilot testing of the system was carried out with 11 subjects to validate the similarity of this device with an existing surgical box trainer. Task completion time and muscle activity have been used as metrics for evaluation. The decrease in completion time for all subjects suggests similarity of skills transfer for both simulators. In addition, the p-value of muscle activity showed no significant differences for most muscles in the peg transfer task when using either the VR or physical analog environment and no significant differences for about half of the muscles in the needle passing task. Based on the results, the new proposed VR simulator appears to be a viable alternative to help trainees gain laparoscopic skills.

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