KiReS: A Kinect-based telerehabilitation system

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to show the main fe atures of KiReS, a telerehabilitation system based on Kinect for Windows, that offers, for both, users and physiotherapists some specific elements that make it more fr iendly to them. From the point of view of users, they can see in two 3D avatars how an exercise must be executed and how they execute it respectively. This fe ature can help them improve exercises performance. Moreover during the rehabilitation session they will always see an informative list that shows the exercises to be done in the session. From the point of view of physiotherapists the system allows them on the one hand, to define customized rehabilitation therapies. That can be done by defining different exercises that combine pre-defined movements. Moreover, they can add tests oriented to specific illnesses so that users themselves evaluate their physical state. On the other hand, they can create new exercises just performing those exercises in fr ont of the system and recording them. Those fe atures, not fu lly supported by already existing telerehabilitation systems, provide an added value that is well valued by both groups. Moreover, a prototype of KiReS is in operation, and allowed us to test its suitability fr om the point of view of real time performance as well as fr om the point of view of usability.

Application of Motion Correction using 3D Autoregressive Model in Kinect-based Telemedicine

“…Being able to recognize body motions at a low cost, Kinect is a suitable device for rehabilitation treatment in terms of accuracy, processing speed, and expandability from previous researches [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Many patients seem to feel that face-to-face medical treatment is not an absolute solution for disease prevention, diagnosis, cures, and recovery, which is an attitude that is growing in magnitude.…”

“…In contrast, rehabilitation medicine such as orthopaedics faces a difficulty when treating patients without a clear understanding of their body motions. As a way to resolve this issue, a rehabilitation program, KiReS (a kinect-based telerehabilitation system), through which a medical service provider sends a remote treatment program to a patient, allowing the patient to rehabilitate themself using a Kinect sensor, is being introduced into the market [3]. Motion recognition devices can be categorized into two types, contact-based or touch-less.…”

Development and implementation of technologies for physical telerehabilitation in Latin America:

“…Several rehabilitation systems based on low-cost motion tracking technologies have been developed to record the user's movements in 3D graphic environments with devices, such as Nintendo Wii Remote, Kinect Camera and inertial sensors (Inertial Measurement UnitsIMUs) implemented in 3D computer graphic environments [21], [27]. Some research projects have directly explored the potential of current commercial games for rehabilitation.…”

Innovative Technologies for Medical Education

“…The markerless tracking feature of Kinect enables a natural user interaction for rehabilitation applications, which alleviates existing issues for patients having difficulty to hold any sensor or marker. Using Kinect, various researches are being explored for the development of assistive systems that help interact with patients during their rehabilitation exercises [31][32][33][34].…”