CogniViTra, a Digital Solution to Support Dual-Task Rehabilitation Training

Abstract

This article focuses on an eHealth application, CogniViTra, to support cognitive and physical training (i.e., dual-task training), which can be done at home with supervision of a health care provider. CogniViTra was designed and implemented to take advantage of an existing Platform of Services supporting a Cognitive Health Ecosystem and comprises several components, including the CogniViTra Box (i.e., the patient terminal equipment), the Virtual Coach to provide assistance, the Game Presentation for the rehabilitation exercises, and the Pose and Gesture Recognition to quantify responses during dual-task training. In terms of validation, a functional prototype was exposed in a highly specialized event related to healthy and active ageing, and key stakeholders were invited to test it and share their insights. Fifty-seven specialists in information-technology-based applications to support healthy and active ageing were involved and the results and indicated that the functional prototype presents good performance in recognizing poses and gestures such as moving the trunk to the left or to the right, and that most of the participants would use or suggest the utilization of CogniViTra. In general, participants considered that CogniViTra is a useful tool and may represent an added value for remote dual-task training.

Technology-Assisted Cognitive Motor Dual-Task Rehabilitation in Chronic Age-Related Conditions: Systematic Review

“…Recent systematic reviews in aging and chronic diseases [ 22 , 26 - 28 ] have showed that CMDT interventions are beneficial for cognitive and motor function. The efficacy and engagement of CMDT rehabilitation could be improved by adopting interactive technological systems that enable one to monitor, aid, and empower cognitive-motor functions in aging [ 28 , 30 , 31 ]. In particular, VR equipped with motion sensors allows for the design of rehabilitative scenarios that involve the participants in cognitive and motor activity in a multisensory way and close-to-real-world conditions [ 38 , 39 ].…”

“…Recent systematic reviews in aging and chronic diseases [22,[26][27][28] have showed that CMDT interventions are beneficial for cognitive and motor function. The efficacy and engagement of CMDT rehabilitation could be improved by adopting interactive technological systems that enable one to monitor, aid, and empower cognitive-motor functions in aging [28,30,31].…”

“…However, the use of innovative technological interfaces allows the patient to simultaneously perform motor and cognitive activities during CMDT. They enable one to track the participant's performance, provide immediate feedback to the patient, and improve engagement [28,30,31]. A growing number of pilot and feasibility studies on CMDT training for age-related chronic conditions showed that motion-tracking systems can be successfully used to reproduce in immersive virtual reality (VR) or computer screen the movements performed by the patient while being involved in a cognitive task during the interaction with the immersive VR or computer screen [30,[32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

“…They enable one to track the participant's performance, provide immediate feedback to the patient, and improve engagement [28,30,31]. A growing number of pilot and feasibility studies on CMDT training for age-related chronic conditions showed that motion-tracking systems can be successfully used to reproduce in immersive virtual reality (VR) or computer screen the movements performed by the patient while being involved in a cognitive task during the interaction with the immersive VR or computer screen [30,[32][33][34][35][36][37]. In particular, immersive VR systems (eg, head-mounted displays and cave automated virtual environment) allow for the creation of compelling cognitive tasks similar to reality while interacting with the body and being stimulated in a multisensorial manner in the virtual world [38,39].…”

Using Advanced Technologies for Neurodegenerative diseases detection at national level

“…Health Platform [20,21,22,23], which was implemented to minimize the critical sustainability issues for the cognitive health management by increasing the capacity to early identify and monitor all individuals at risk for cognitive decline and to provide early cognitive interventions with the adequate quality, intensity, and duration to obtain relevant functional effects. For this purpose, the Cognitive Health Platform promotes the use of innovative technological solutions to support different clinical domains: i) population-based cognitive screening strategies; ii) optimization of the neuropsychological rehabilitation processes by providing strategies to allow individual or group cognitive training programs, ideally at home or in community-based institutions; iii) rapid mobilization of the knowledge produced to improve the cognitive health of the populations in terms of intellectual performance, social participation, and quality of life.…”