UC3M RESEARCH
Virtual-reality for motor rehabilitation of the shoulder
We have developed a system which allows
a partial rehabilitation of the rotator cuff of the shoulder.
It is a football video game: the patient acts as the goalkeeper
and performs abduction and adduction movements
to block the balls. If this movement
is performed correctly, he'll get a score in the video game
and also a partial rehabilitation.
We are using two recent technologies,
both from 2014. On one hand, Oculus Rift,
the second version for developers, some virtual-reality goggles;
and Intel RealSense, a motion sensor
that allows to capture the one of the patient's skeleton.
He puts on the virtual-reality goggles
to have a vision of the environment in three dimensions
and he puts himself in front of the motion sensor device.
When he performs the abduction and adduction movements of the arm,
the motion sensor captures those movements he is performing
and allows him to see, in the real environment in 3D,
the hand moving up and down to block the balls.
It allows many patients in a clinic to rehabilitate at once,
and because of being integrated with a computer system
the doctor could track the patients' progress separately,
but speeding time in their full rehabilitation.
Another advantage is that rehabilitation time is reduced:
the patient will do this exercise for about 20 minutes a day.
We asked physiotherapists to assess the system to check
movements are performed well and they verified it.
The next steps would involve, after deciding the system is safe,
to begin with the clinical trials
to test the system with actual patients.
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Communication and Culture Vice-Chancellor