Hemineglect assessment and rehabilitation using a robotic serious game

Hemineglect is a condition where brain-damaged patients are impaired at perceiving and responding to the contralesional part of objects (allocentric hemineglect) and/or the contralesional part of space (egocentric hemineglect). The condition can also be accompanied by motor impairments. Although treatments exist, none are completely effective. The objective of our research is to develop a serious game that evaluates and rehabilitates the different forms of hemineglect according to the patient’s impairment severity. The first step towards this objective is the development and validation of a robotic assessment for egocentric hemineglect. We tested 12 stroke patients and 40 healthy control participants with the robotic hemineglect assessment. Patients were also assessed with two hemineglect standardized tests. Significant correlations between the robotic and the standardized tests demonstrated a good validity for the assessment of egocentric hemineglect. Moreover, the robotic assessment showed a good sensitivity and specificity. Based on these results, we can identify the captures necessary for the rehabilitation serious game to adapt difficulty level in correspondence to the patient’s egocentric hemineglect impairment. Future steps in development will focus on the validation of the allocentric and motor hemineglect assessment

Robotic-assisted Serious Game For Motor And Cognitive Post-stroke Rehabilitation

Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability that can cause motor and cognitive impairments. New technologies such as robotic devices and serious games are increasingly being developed to improve post-stroke rehabilitation. The aim of the present project was to develop a ROBiGAME serious game to simultaneously improve motor and cognitive deficits (in particular hemiparesis and hemineglect). In this context, the difficulty level of the game was adapted to each patient’s performance, and this individualized adaptation was addressed as the main challenge of the game development. The game was implemented on the REAplan end-effector rehabilitation robot, which was used in continuous interaction with the game. A preliminary feasibility study of a target pointing game was run in order to validate the game features and parameters. Results showed that the game was perceived as enjoyable, and that patients reported a desire to play the game again. Most of the targets included in the game design were realistic, and they were well perceived by the patients. Results also suggested that the cognitive help strategy could include one visual prompting cue, possibly combined with an auditory cue. It was observed that the motor assistance provided by the robot was well adapted for each patient’s impairments, but the study results led to a suggestion that the triggering conditions should be reviewed. Patients and therapists reported the desire to receive more feedback on the patient’s performances. Nevertheless, more patients and therapists are needed to play the game in order to give further and more comprehensive feedback that will allow for improvements of the serious game. Future steps also include the validation of the motivation assessment module that is currently under development

Robotic-assisted serious gamefor motor and cognitive post-stroke rehabilitation

Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability that can cause motor and cognitive impairments. New technologies such as robotic devices and serious games are increasingly being developed to improve post-stroke rehabilitation. The aim of the present proj ect was to develop a ROBiGAME serious game to simultaneously improve motor and cognitive de cits (in particular hemiparesis and hemineglect). In this context, the di culty level of the game was adapted to each patient's performance, and this individualized adaptation was addressed as the main challenge of the game development. The game was implemented on the REAplan end-effector rehabilitation robot, which was used in continuous interaction with the game. A preliminary feasibility study of a target pointing game was run in order to validate the game features and parameters. Results showed that the game was perceived as enj oyable, and that patients reported a desire to play the game again. Most of the targets included in the game design were realistic, and they were well perceived by the patients. Results also suggested that the cognitive help strategy could include one visual prompting cue, possibly combined with an auditory cue. It was observed that the motor assistance provided by the robot was well adapted for each patient's impairments, but the study results led to a suggestion that the triggering conditions should be reviewed. Patients and therapists reported the desire to receive more feedback on the patient's performances. Nevertheless, more patients and therapists are needed to play the game in order to give further and more comprehensive feedback that will allow for improvements of the serious game. Future steps also include the validation of the motivation assessment module that is currently under development

Assessment of upper limb motor impairments in children with cerebral palsy using a rehabilitation robot and serious game exercise

Brain damaged patients require long and intensive rehabilitation. Recent advances in robotic devices and serious games provide two interesting innovations that together, intensify the therapy, and increase the patient motivation to engage in the therapy. In our project, we implemented a serious game on a rehabilitation robot in order to adapt the rehabilitation to the individual impairments of each patient. In the first phase of development, we assessed the patient impairments. Here, we report the validation and reproducibility of the robotic upper limb motor assessment. The protocol assessed four variables: passive range of motion, elbow flexor and extensor, isometric and isokinetic strength, and upper limb kinematics. The results showed that the protocol had good validity and reproducibility. In the second phase of development, the robotic motor assessment will be integrated to the serious game to provide a continuous measure of motor performance. This allow a continuous adaptation of the rehabilitation in function of each patient’s impairments severity