Descripción del proyecto
Cómo la realidad virtual ayuda a la recuperación de los miembros superiores en los pacientes que han padecido un ictus
Cada veinte segundos, alguien en Europa tiene un ictus, que es la segunda causa de muerte y la tercera de años de vida ajustados por discapacidad en todo el mundo. Mejorar la recuperación motora de los miembros superiores es un objetivo terapéutico importante en la rehabilitación tras un ictus. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos ImpHandRehab se basará en descubrimientos recientes de que las intervenciones basadas en los premios pueden mejorar el aprendizaje motor en los pacientes que han padecido un ictus y sufren un deterioro en los miembros superiores. Mostrará el potencial de la tecnología de realidad virtual como herramienta de rehabilitación efectiva. Concretamente, utilizará un guante de captura de movimientos compatible con la realidad virtual para recopilar con precisión los datos de posición de cada uno de los dedos sin necesidad de una cámara. El objetivo del proyecto es crear un producto de rehabilitación basado en la mano asequible, flexible, preciso, interactivo y científicamente validado que los pacientes puedan usar en casa.
Objetivo
The ERC proThe ERC project (MotMotLearn), underlying ImpHandRehab, aims to develop reward-based interventions that optimise motor learning in stroke patients suffering upperlimb impairments. MotMotLearn has shown that if reward-based feedback is combined with a distracting environment learning is robust to interference and resistant to forgetting; important components for a successful rehabilitation intervention. However, this work has highlighted several technical limitations which restrict our ability to apply this knowledge to stroke patients. First, an engaging virtual reality (VR) environment is required that enables reward-based feedback to be combined with distracting environments. Second, many stroke patients exhibiting upperlimb impairment are unable to open their hand (finger extension). Not only does this limit participation in rehabilitation programs but also restricts functional use of the arm. Crucially, existing hand-based VR-related equipment has at least one of the following issues; limited ability to measure individual finger movements, requires the hand to be in close proximity to a camera or is prohibitively expensive. Therefore, a clear gap exists for a sensitive, flexible and affordable VR-based product that focuses on hand function recovery. To address this, ImpHandRehab will use a state-of-the-art VR-compatible motion capturing glove which accurately collects individual finger position data without the need for a camera. Several VR tasks will be developed that focus on improving finger extension (whole hand and individual fingers) through the combination of closed-loop reward-based learning designs and distracting environments. These tasks will be optimised in healthy older adults and validated in stroke patients via the UK’s largest upperlimb rehabilitation clinic. ImpHandRehab will create an affordable, flexible, accurate, interactive and scientifically-validated hand-based rehabilitation product which patients will be able to use at home.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinephysiotherapy
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologystroke
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationsvirtual reality
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotInstitución de acogida
B15 2TT Birmingham
Reino Unido