Artikel
A computer game for patients with Parkinson's disease – a new form of PC based physiotherapy
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Autoren
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Ronny Grunert
- Fraunhofer Institute for machine tools and forming technology, Dresden, Deutschland; University Leipzig, Department of neurosurgery, Leipzig, Deutschland
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Andre Krause
- University of Leipzig, Department of neurosurgery, Leipzig, Deutschland
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Peter Themann
- Hospital Tharandter Wald, Hetzdorf, Deutschland
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Jürgen Meixensberger
- University of Leipzig, Department of neurosurgery, Leipzig, Deutschland
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Dirk Winkler
- University of Leipzig, Department of neurosurgery, Leipzig, Deutschland
| Veröffentlicht: | 9. Juni 2017 |
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Gliederung
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Objective: The physiotherapeutic care of patients with Parkinson's disease is an important support in the maintenance of mobility and the associated quality of life. Certain movements are reactivated or optimized by means of specific exercises, which helps to manage the illness in the best possible way. Due to the technical innovations in the field of soft- and hardware new possibilities arise as a complement to traditional physiotherapy. The aim of this work was the development of a computer game for rehabilitation exercises especially for patients with Parkinson's disease which recognizes the patient’s movement in real-time and which provides a basis for the correction of the patient.
Methods: Using a Microsoft Kinect camera®, the patient movements are recorded markerless and transferred into the computer game. The prototype consists of a basketball game in which the patients have to throw a ball into a basket as often as possible. The throw of the basketball is an exercise to train the swing of an extremity on the one hand and to train movements with a large action radius on the other hand. The functional requirements were developed in an interprofessional approach.
Results: A software prototype was developed, which included a training exercise in the form of a basketball game. The symptoms "freezing" as well as the Pisa syndrome are to be treated by repeated exercises with large swing and large range of movement. The player (patient) is guided through the game by acoustic and visual feedback which allows the patient a correction of the movements by himself. In addition, potentially motivation-enhancing mechanisms are applied in the form of highscores and automatic difficulty changes. The efficacy and overall usability of the program have been tested with 5 individual patients.
Conclusion: The mechanisms of the prototype, including direct acoustic or visual control, allow a much autonomous and effective practice without neglecting the fun of exercising. Due to the Kinect's markerless recording of the player's movements and the compatibility with every Windows PC, it should be possible to provide a system, which would be easy to install in patients home environment.
