Development of a Tele-Rehabilitation System Using an Upper Limb Assistive Device

A tele-rehabilitation system that can achieve remote interaction between a physical therapist (PT) and a patient was developed. Patients need to execute rehabilitation exercises to maintain upper limb function. However, it is difficult for them to travel to hospitals without aid. This system is equipped with a PC and a Kinect sensor at the hospital side (i.e., the PT), and a PC and an upper limb assistive device in the patient’s home. The PT displays the motion in front of a Kinect sensor, which identifies the motion. In addition, the device on the home side assists the motion of the patient using the Internet. When the device receives a force higher than the safety value from the patient at any particular point on it, vibrators at the corresponding point on the PT’s arm start to vibrate. Thereby, the PT can identify the patient’s condition and limitations. The time delays in the transmission of data of device motion and the vibrators were measured and compared. As a result, the PT could identify the patient’s condition faster than the motion of the device.

Download Full-text

Influence of Number of Repetition and Variety of Task in Upper Limb Motor Recovery in Hemiplegia

10.47363/jpmrs/2020(2)121 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Divya S ◽

◽

Arunachalam Ramachandran ◽

Janani R ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Limb ◽

Physical Therapist ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Movement Pattern ◽

Stroke Survivor ◽

Care Physician ◽

Cortical Reorganization ◽

Upper Limb Function ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Task Oriented

Knowledge of rehabilitation of stroke seeks to be important source of promoting recovery and independence of activity of daily living in stroke survivor. This study has the purpose to utilize the motor relearning program by means of task oriented approach. It is a novel approach towards the cortical reorganization in the sensorimotor cortex, where the sensation of normal movement pattern is achieved through variety of task practice. The major relearning of functional activity can be enhanced by increasing the intensity of task oriented practice. Subjects with cerebro vascular accident referred by their primary care physician to a physical therapist were recruited from the inpatient and outpatient department of Saveetha Medical Hospital based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and informed consent obtained and was screened for the eligibility. The collected data was tabulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of pre-test and post-test within group analysis showed extremely statistically significant with p-test values (P=0.0001 and P <0.0001). It is concluded from this study that both the variety of tasks and number of repetition improves upper limb function following hemiplegia. Further intervention with more number of repetition resulted in a better recovery than intervention with more number of tasks.

Download Full-text

A Game-Based Rehabilitation System for Upper-Limb Cerebral Palsy: A Feasibility Study

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20082416 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

pp. 2416 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mohammad I. Daoud ◽

Abdullah Alhusseini ◽

Mostafa Z. Ali ◽

Rami Alazrai

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Palsy ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Arm Movements ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Game Playing ◽

Kinect Sensor ◽

Computerized Assessment ◽

Physical Exercises ◽

Rehabilitation System ◽

The Right

Game-based rehabilitation systems provide an effective tool to engage cerebral palsy patients in physical exercises within an exciting and entertaining environment. A crucial factor to ensure the effectiveness of game-based rehabilitation systems is to assess the correctness of the movements performed by the patient during the game-playing sessions. In this study, we propose a game-based rehabilitation system for upper-limb cerebral palsy that includes three game-based exercises and a computerized assessment method. The game-based exercises aim to engage the participant in shoulder flexion, shoulder horizontal abduction/adduction, and shoulder adduction physical exercises that target the right arm. Human interaction with the game-based rehabilitation system is achieved using a Kinect sensor that tracks the skeleton joints of the participant. The computerized assessment method aims to assess the correctness of the right arm movements during each game-playing session by analyzing the tracking data acquired by the Kinect sensor. To evaluate the performance of the computerized assessment method, two groups of participants volunteered to participate in the game-based exercises. The first group included six cerebral palsy children and the second group included twenty typically developing subjects. For every participant, the computerized assessment method was employed to assess the correctness of the right arm movements in each game-playing session and these computer-based assessments were compared with matching gold standard evaluations provided by an experienced physiotherapist. The results reported in this study suggest the feasibility of employing the computerized assessment method to evaluate the correctness of the right arm movements during the game-playing sessions.

Download Full-text

Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a Tongue-Operated Exoskeleton System for Upper Limb Rehabilitation

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18168708 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (16) ◽

pp. 8708

Author(s):

Zhenxuan Zhang ◽

Boris I. Prilutsky ◽

Andrew J. Butler ◽

Minoru Shinohara ◽

Maysam Ghovanloo

Keyword(s):

Upper Extremity ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Assistive Device ◽

Preliminary Evaluation ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Upper Limb Function ◽

Tracking Tasks ◽

Arm Reaching ◽

Upper Extremity Impairment ◽

Limb Rehabilitation

Stroke is a devastating condition that may cause upper limb paralysis. Robotic rehabilitation with self-initiated and assisted movements is a promising technology that could help restore upper limb function. Previous studies have established that the tongue motion can be used to communicate human intent and control a rehabilitation robot/assistive device. The goal of this study was to evaluate a tongue-operated exoskeleton system (TDS-KA), which we have developed for upper limb rehabilitation. We adopted a tongue-operated assistive technology, called the tongue drive system (TDS), and interfaced it with the exoskeleton KINARM. We also developed arm reaching and tracking tasks, controlled by different tongue operation modes, for training and evaluation of arm motor function. Arm reaching and tracking tasks were tested in 10 healthy participants (seven males and three females, 23–60 years) and two female stroke survivors with upper extremity impairment (32 and 58 years). All healthy and two stroke participants successfully performed the tasks. One stroke subject demonstrated a clinically significant improvement in Fugl-Meyer upper extremity score after practicing the tasks in six 3-h sessions. We conclude that the TDS-KA system can accurately translate tongue commands to exoskeleton arm movements, quantify the function of the arm, and perform rehabilitation training.

Download Full-text

NAO robot for cooperative rehabilitation training

Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering ◽

10.1177/2055668319862151 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 205566831986215

Author(s):

Md Assad-Uz-Zaman ◽

Md Rasedul Islam ◽

Suruz Miah ◽

Mohammad H Rahman

Keyword(s):

Upper Extremity ◽

Upper Limb ◽

External Rotation ◽

Kinematic Model ◽

Upper Limb Function ◽

Nao Robot ◽

Flexion Extension ◽

The Disabled ◽

Upper Extremity Rehabilitation ◽

Rehabilitation Exercises

Introduction The aim of this research is to develop a robot-assistive training approach for the disabled individuals with impaired upper limb functions. People with impaired upper limb function can regain their motor functionality undergoing intense rehabilitation exercises. With increasing number of disabled individuals, we face deficiency in the number of expert therapists. One promising remedy could be the use of robotic assistive devices. Method To instruct and demonstrate rehabilitation exercise, this research used NAO robot. A library of recommended rehabilitation exercises involving shoulder (i.e., abduction/adduction, vertical flexion/extension, and internal/external rotation), and elbow (i.e., flexion/extension) joint movements was formed in Choregraphe (graphical programming interface). For this purpose, a kinematic model of human upper-extremity was developed based on modified Denavit-Hartenberg notations. Result In experiments, NAO robot gave voice instruction and was maneuvered to cooperate and demonstrate the exercises from the library. NAO also plays some complex game with the subject that represents a multi-joint movement's exercise, which was also included in the library. Conclusions Experimental results with healthy participants reveal that the NAO robot can successfully instruct and demonstrate upper-extremity rehabilitation exercises for single and multi-joint movements. It implies a technical development of cooperative rehabilitation system for which target group will be individuals with upper limb impairment.

Download Full-text

Effective Physical Rehabilitation System

Advances in Medical Technologies and Clinical Practice - Virtual Reality Enhanced Robotic Systems for Disability Rehabilitation ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9740-9.ch010 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 180-197

Author(s):

Yee Mon Aung ◽

Adel Al-Jumaily

Keyword(s):

Augmented Reality ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Physical Rehabilitation ◽

Whole Body ◽

Motor Deficit ◽

Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Rehabilitation Therapy ◽

Rehabilitation System ◽

Limb Rehabilitation ◽

Rehabilitation Exercises

Physical disability due to any neurological disorder such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) or Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) leads to motor deficit which will result in loss of control over whole body or one side of the body depending on which part of the brain is affected. In this case, physical rehabilitation is required to perform for restoration of lost functions to promote the patient's quality of life. However, traditional rehabilitation therapy requires one-to-one attention between patient and therapist. Furthermore, patients feel mundane after long term training with traditional exercises in repetitive manners. Therefore, this chapter presents the Effective Physical Rehabilitation System (EPRS) for upper limb rehabilitation by combination of augmented reality based rehabilitation exercises and biofeedback for fast recovery of motor deficit with motivational approach over traditional upper limb rehabilitation therapy which requires minimum supervision of physiotherapist. The main objective of EPRs is to restore the range of motions of upper limb and to prevent from muscle spasticity, muscle atrophy and osteoporosis in effective and motivated way. To meet this objective, augmented reality based pick and place rehabilitation exercises are developed for reaching movements. The effectiveness of the proposed system is evaluated by the experiments and questionnaires results.

Download Full-text