This work details developments made in a system for hand rehabilitation,
that aims to improve recovery of fine motor control, mostly for those
recovering from stroke. The system consists of an instrumented device that is
used to interact with a variety of games designed to improve fine motor control,
enhancing rehabilitation practices. These games were tested with actual disabled
individuals and therapists, having received overall positive feedback.
Stroke remains one of the leading causes of disability throughout the world. In
2013, it was the third greatest cause of disability, having been responsible for 113
million disability-adjusted life-years [1]. Most stroke patients suffer from some kind
of upper limb impairment [2], which can often be overcome through motor rehabilitation. This rehabilitation is of critical importance, as good control over the hands is fundamental for insuring one’s independence and quality of life. Specifically, grip force control plays a major role on daily tasks, mostly on manipulating everyday
objects. Training of grip force control is also important in other scenarios, such as the
case of individuals with newly implanted myoelectric prosthetics [3]. The use of
augmented feedback has been shown to enhance rehabilitation for the two aforementioned cases [4, 5]. Furthermore, the use of devices that enable automatic recording and objective measurement of the patients’ capabilities has been of growing interest, as most current rehabilitation practices are based on subjective progress evaluation [6,7].
The use of an instrumented device for training and accessing hand dexterity and
grip force control of a patient enables both the use of augmented feedback and progress
recording, besides allowing the incorporation of games in the rehabilitation
sessions. The use of games in rehabilitation is also increasing, as they have been
shown to increase patient engagement and therapy effectiveness [8-10]. There are a
number of devices under development that provide some of these features [11-13], but
to the best of the authors knowledge there are no commercially available devices that
provide grip force control training.
This paper further details developments made in a hand rehabilitation system previously developed by the authors [14], with a focus on the development of a set of
therapeutic games.[…]
via http://online-journals.org/index.php/i-joe/article/view/7793
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