A Paediatric Interactive Therapy System for arm and hand rehabilitation

Abstract

A paediatric interactive therapy system for arm and hand rehabilitation Abstract-Paediatric rehabilitation using virtual reality systems pose unique usability challenges distinct from those in adult rehabilitation. These challenges relate to the different epidemiology and aetiology of children's disorders requiring rehabilitation and the physical design of interactive virtual reality hardware for children of varying sizes. Just as importantly, children need highly entertaining interactive scenarios that suit their differing levels of cognitive development and thus their differing abilities to comprehend gaming scenarios. In this paper we present our virtual realitybased Paediatric Interactive Therapy System (PITS) designed specifically for upper arm rehabilitation in children aged from five years of age upwards. It incorporates a range of interchangeable position sensing devices (compass, bend sensor, pressure sensor and camera tracking) that can be adjusted to a large range of different hand sizes, and interactive gaming scenarios specifically designed for maximum entertainment value for children. We describe the neuroscientific principles behind our system, the technical details of the hardware components and the design of the interactive scenarios. An initial usability and patient acceptance pilot study has been conducted at the Rehabilitation Centre Affoltern of the University Children's Hospital Zurich. To date all patients have accepted the system, and trained in reaching and grasping tasks at a far higher rate than in conventional occupational therapy. The system thus promises to be a valuable complement to conventional therapeutic programs offered in rehabilitation clinics.

A systematic review of game technologies for pediatric patients

“…With respect to the pathologies that can affect the choice of technology, we identified two different groups with common requirements. First, patients with either neurological problems or general physical disabilities (traumatology) that are subjected to physical rehabilitation require the ability to physically exercise a specific body part [17,18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], or to perform fine-grained movements [32,33]. For this, they rely on commercial gesture-based consoles such as Nintendo Wii [26,27,30], which has been proven to improve movement abilities in people with motor impairments [34,35]; the Lokomat system [31], which has been found successful at neurological movement rehabilitation [36]; or commercial tactile tablets, under the promise that direct touch capabilities will increase dexterity and muscle tone [33]; but most of the studies analyzed rely on tailor-made controllers, which can provide the most customization for the body part being rehabilitated.…”

Aplicación de tecnologías de rehabilitación robótica en niños con lesión del miembro superior

“…En 2009 Wille, et al 25 desarrollaron un sistema de rehabilitación con protocolos de terapia, compuesto por un guante instrumentado para hacer actividades basadas en realidad virtual, denominado: Sistema pediátrico interactivo de terapia basado en realidad virtual. Además, este sistema es comercializado como YouGrabber por la compañia YouRehab 64 (Interactive Rehabilitation Systems).…”

“…Debido al escaso número de aplicaciones para niños, algunas que han sido desarrolladas para adultos se están utilizando también con población infantil; como son: AMADEO ®20,21 , PABLO ®22 , DIEGO ® , pediatric ARMEO ®23 spring, el sistema YouGrabber 24 y el sistema pediátrico interactivo basado en realidad virtual PITS 25 "Pediatric Interactive Therapy System" por sus siglas en inglés. En general, las primeras aplicaciones en niños tenían el propósito de estudiar la interacción con terapias asistidas por robots [26][27] , con el fin de observar la aceptación por parte del paciente y el terapeuta.…”

Sensorized Garments Developed for Remote Postural and Motor Rehabilitation

“…A complete system for a full body measurements Figure 16. System completed by a 3D model, a GUI and a database (Bonato, 2005;Lorussi, Scilingo et al, 2005;Pyk et al, 2008), and integrating it with ad-hoc created virtual reality environments (Szekely and Satava, 1999).…”