Hemineglect assessment and rehabilitation using a robotic serious game

Abstract

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