Kinteract: A Multi-sensor Physical Rehabilitation Solution based on Interactive Games

Abstract

All over the world there are millions of people who are living with long-term motor impairments caused by a stroke or any other kind of corticospinal tract injuries. The physical rehabilitation of these patients is usually slow and demotivating. In this paper we introduce Kinteract, a novel solution that applies the paradigm of using motion-based games in the rehabilitation process, with the added value of providing a motion sensor server that supports a growing array of motion sensors (currently Microsoft Kinect, Leap Motion and Orbotix Sphero) and merge their data into a single protocol that can be used for any purpose. The use of different sensors, even at the same time, allows the rehabilitation of specific parts of the body. This data can be stored in a server for physicians to analyse and can clearly reveal the evolution of the patient in the rehabilitation process.

Person-Generated Health Data in Simulated Rehabilitation Using Kinect for Stroke: Literature Review

“…While 33% (11/33) of papers with subjects did not report ages [ 45 - 47 , 52 - 54 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 70 ], there was considerable variation in the ages of both patients and subjects in those that did. For papers that recruited patients, the combined mean age was 59.2 (SD 19.6) years.…”

“…For papers that recruited healthy subjects, combined standard deviation (39.9 years) was greater than the combined mean (37.3 years), indicative of how spread out the age ranges were. While 38% (9/24) of papers with patients did not record gender [ 23 , 44 - 47 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 70 ], the majority of patients in those that did were male and 2 had an equal distribution [ 39 , 48 ]. Meanwhile, 54% (7/13) of papers with healthy subjects did not record gender [ 52 , 53 , 55 - 57 , 59 , 60 ]; the majority of patients in those that did were male.…”

“…The types of feedback provided to patients are described in the next section. Human performance data (n=25) are those used to indicate movement or exercise performance of the individual [ 22 , 36 - 40 , 42 , 45 - 48 , 52 , 53 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 64 - 67 , 69 - 72 ]. Most of these data were generated directly from the Kinect sensor; others were from different sensors such as accelerometers.…”

Multi-sensor Exercise-based Interactive Games for Fall Prevention and Rehabilitation

“…It must be mentioned that the currently available games are only played with the smartphone (although navigation can be done with other sensors), but more are planned that will include the use of other sensors like the Kinect and the Wii Balance Board. However, tests on using the Kinect in the rehabilitation module of this solution are presented in [16].…”

“…In previous stages of development of this project, games focused on the rehabilitation of the upper limbs and hands in victims of neurological disorders (namely stroke) were developed and tested. These games were based on the aforementioned framework, and used Microsoft Kinect R [13], Leap Motion R [14] and Orbotix Sphero R [15] to track movements [16].…”