Interaction Modalities Used on Serious Games for Upper Limb Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review aims to analyze the state-of-the-art regarding interaction modalities used on serious games for upper limb rehabilitation. A systematic search was performed in IEEE Xplore and Web of Science databases. PRISMA and QualSyst protocols were used to filter and assess the articles. Articles must meet the following inclusion criteria: they must be written in English; be at least four pages in length; use or develop serious games; focus on upper limb rehabilitation; and be published between 2007 and 2017. Of 121 articles initially retrieved, 33 articles met the inclusion criteria. Three interaction modalities were found: vision systems (42.4%), complementary vision systems (30.3%), and no-vision systems (27.2%). Vision systems and no-vision systems obtained a similar mean QualSyst (86%) followed by complementary vision systems (85.7%). Almost half of the studies used vision systems as the interaction modality (42.4%) and used the Kinect sensor to collect the body movements (48.48%). The shoulder was the most treated body part in the studies (19%). A key limitation of vision systems and complementary vision systems is that their device performances might be affected by lighting conditions. A main limitation of the no-vision systems is that the range-of-motion in angles of the body movement might not be measured accurately. Due to a limited number of studies, fruitful areas for further research could be the following: serious games focused on finger rehabilitation and trauma injuries, game difficulty adaptation based on user's muscle strength and posture, and multisensor data fusion on interaction modalities.

Serious Games Strategies With Cable-Driven Robots for Bimanual Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Post-Stroke Patients

“…Several metrics were proposed in the literature to assess the patient’s performance during the playing. The main metrics used in the studies are medical scale evaluation, range-of-motion comparison, game score, and physiotherapist evaluation ( Aguilar-Lazcano et al, 2019 ). The score can be used to quantitatively evaluate the patient’s evolution, which is an information of great value for physical therapists.…”

“…Serious games motivate the patient to perform a prescribed sequence of rehabilitation exercises in a more attractive and engaging way, allowing to soften the feeling of tiredness during the exercises ( Appel et al, 2014 ; Moretti et al, 2014 ). In this way, robotic therapy can be combined with serious games and it allows an intensive, encouraging, and motivating environment for patients ( Proença et al, 2018 ; Aguilar-Lazcano et al, 2019 ). Additionally, it can improve and adjust the therapy progress by recording patient activity information such as exercise durations, velocities, and forces.…”

Adaptive Rehabilitation Bots in Serious Games

“…Recent studies explored the possibility of utilizing patient-centered telerehabilitation as an adjunctive therapy to overcome the challenges in conventional therapy solutions [6,7]. Within this context, serious games appeared to be a promising candidate in bridging that gap, by providing an engaging environment to perform the required exercises, while using 3D monitoring devices that allow tracking of patients' gestures and performance in real-time [2,8]. Remote rehabilitation of patients dealing with musculoskeletal disorders through serious games allows for close guidance and encourage patients towards performing online low-cost physiotherapy exercises that can help them live independently at home [9].…”

“…This usually results in appointment delays and reduced treatment time. Second, patients are, in most cases, required to perform additional exercises at home, allow timely recovery, and reduce the recurrent expensive visits to hospitals or rehabilitation centers [2]. Third, traditional therapy methods require the supervision and monitoring of experienced professionals in order to assess patients' performance and improvement over time.…”

Motion Rehab 3D AVE V2: um novo VR-exergame para fisioterapia motora

“…Sabe-se que existem diferentes estudos relacionados à utilização de exergames em processos de reabilitação de membros superiores e inferiores, que empregam o monitoramento de movimentos dos indivíduos por meio de sensores [9] [10]. Como exemplo, pode-se destacar os estudos de Norouzi-Gheidari et al [11], Passos et al [12], Choi e Paik [13], e González-González et al [14], que utilizaram exergames para a reabilitação de pacientes que sofreram acidente vascular encefálico, sendo que cada abordagem considerou aspectos físicos distintos.…”