Virtual Human Physiotherapist Framework for Personalized Training and Rehabilitation (original) (raw)
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A variable resistance virtual exercise platform for physiotherapy rehabilitation
International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, 2010
Various motion input and sensing methods have been evaluated in designing a home-based physiotherapy rehabilitation system for spinal cord injury patients. The important design factors include: the ability of the system to track motion; a portable system for home use; and a variable level of effort. The ability to vary the resistance to motion is particularly desired so that the device can be 'reprogrammed' for different patients and at different stages of physiotherapy. Commercial computer games can be integrated with the purpose built motion input device. The amount of exercise is captured by the visionbased motion tracking system. The design of the rehabilitation system allows adjustable resistance to movement, easy interface to game exercises and patient's ready access to windows-based tasks. This provides a patient with a home-based virtual exercise platform and stimulating experiences in his/her physiotherapy.
Virtual Trainer for Physical Activities using a Natural User Interface
2017
Despite the known health benefits of regular participation in physical activity people still refuse this practise. Nowadays, Virtual Reality (VR) is a very powerful and compelling computer tool by which humans can interface and interact with computer-generated environments. In this paper, we propose a virtual training system which can be customized for the physical activity level of the user. System provides real time visual action guide and a performance’s feedback of users through a Natural User Interface (NUI). We conduct a brief pilot study to evaluate our virtual trainers in which participants’ performance doing physical activities is evaluated via our NUI. Initial results indicate that virtual training through a NUI is motivating and entertaining for any kind of user, in particular for individuals with low level of physical activity.
Elbows Higher! Performing, Observing and Correcting Exercises by a Virtual Trainer
2008
In the framework of our Reactive Virtual Trainer (RVT) project, we are developing an Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) capable to act similarly to a real trainer. Besides presenting the physical exercises to be performed, she keeps an eye on the user. She provides feedback whenever appropriate, to introduce and structure the exercises, to make sure that the exercises are performed correctly, and also to motivate the user. In this paper we talk about the corpora we collected, serving a basis to model repetitive exercises on high level. Then we discuss in detail how the actual performance of the user is compared to what he should be doing, what strategy is used to provide feedback, and how it is generated. We provide preliminary feedback from users and outline further work.
Interactive Physiotherapy: An Application Based on Virtual Reality and Bio-feedback
Wireless Personal Communications, 2018
Physiotherapy is a rehabilitation specialty that helps alleviate physical impairments and promotes patient's mobility and quality of life. It consists of equipment and personnel to provide mechanically forced movements and various exercises that help retain and enhance motor movements in patients suffering from physical injuries or ailments like Parkinson's disease, Arthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Stroke, etc. This paper proposes an entertaining way to perform routine exercises, which do not require physical intervention, by packaging them into a Virtual Reality (VR) game environment for such patients to enhance joint and muscle mobility while also providing continuous monitoring of vital signs using Bio-sensors. The game provides various degrees of muscle exercises and Microsoft Kinect (Optical Sensor) is used to track patient's skeletal movements. Prompt measures are also provided if the data from Bio-sensors (mounted on patient's body and connected wirelessly to the processing unit) starts to deviate from medically accepted normal ranges. We have developed the prototype using Unity 3D alongwith the VR headset Oculus Rift. The proposed prototype has immense significance in the field of rehabilitation and improving quality of daily life activities for the elderly. While experimenting with the prototype it was found that the used Bio-sensors provided an error no greater than one unit of measurement, which is negligible for the purpose of physiotherapy exercise monitoring considering the span of the normal range values. Moreover, the Kinect provided an error of just 5 mm during skeletal measurements thereby engendering robust deployment of the proposed unit.
VR-Assisted Physical Rehabilitation: Adapting to the Needs of Therapists and Patients
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2015
Virtual Reality technologies are slated to transform the practice of physical rehabilitation and the potential benefits have only started to be explored. We present in this paper a direct motion demonstration approach for allowing therapists to intuitively create and edit customized exercises and therapy programs that are responsive to the needs of their patients. We propose adaptive exercise models, motion processing algorithms, and delivery techniques designed to achieve exercises that effectively respond to physical limitations and recovery rates of individual patients. Remote networked solutions are also presented for allowing therapists and patients to intuitively share their motions during real-time collaborative therapy sessions. Our solutions have been implemented as a low-cost portable system based on a Kinect sensor, and as a highend virtual reality system providing full-scale immersion. We analyze and discuss our methods and systems in light of feedback received from therapists.
Personalized Digital Fitness Coach
International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies '21, 2021
The Corona crisis limits the mobility of people and it proves that many people have an increased body mass index. A lot of people want to increase their fitness and to boost their immune system. There is a run-on fitness schools and fitness equipment for the home environment. At fitness schools, fitness coaches are available for personalized instructions and supervision. Fitness in the home environment lacks personalized instruction and supervision and can cause serious injuries. In this paper a digital coach will be introduced providing digital support and supervision. The digital coach offers personalized fitness program, supervises athletes during fitness exercises and provides a supporting system concerning injuries. A prototype of the developed system can be downloaded as an app on a smart phone.
ePHoRt: Towards a Reference Architecture for Tele-Rehabilitation Systems
IEEE Access, 2019
In recent years, the software applications for medical assistance, including the telerehabilitation, have known a high and a continuous presence in the medical area. The ePHoRt is a Web-based platform for the remote home monitoring rehabilitation exercises in patients after hip replacement surgery. It involves a learning phase and a serious game scheme for the execution and evaluation of the exercises as part of a therapeutic program. Modular software architecture is proposed, under the patient perspective, to be used as a reference model for researchers or professionals who wish to carry out tele-rehabilitation platforms, and to guarantee security, flexibility, and scalability. The architecture incorporates two main components. The first one manages the patient' therapeutic programs taking into account two principles: 1) maintain loose coupling between the layers of the framework and 2) Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY). The second one evaluates the performed exercises in real time considering an independent acquisition mechanism for the patient movements and two artificial algorithms. The first algorithm allows evaluating the quality of the movements, while the second one allows assessing the levels of pain intensity by recognizing the patient' emotions when performing the movements. Details of the components and the meta-model of the architecture are presented and discussed considering their advantages and disadvantages.
GymSkill: A personal trainer for physical exercises
2012
We present GymSkill, a personal trainer for ubiquitous monitoring and assessment of physical activity using standard fitness equipment. The system records and analyzes exercises using the sensors of a personal smartphone attached to the gym equipment. Novel fine-grained activity recognition techniques based on pyramidal Principal Component Breakdown Analysis (PCBA) provide a quantitative analysis of the quality of human movements. In addition to overall quality judgments, GymSkill identifies interesting portions of the recorded sensor data and provides suggestions for improving the individual performance, thereby extending existing work. The system was evaluated in a case study where 6 participants performed a variety of exercises on balance boards. GymSkill successfully assessed the quality of the exercises, in agreement with the professional judgment provided by a physician. User feedback suggests that GymSkill has the potential to serve as an effective tool for motivating and supporting lay people to overcome sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles. GymSkill is available in the Android Market as 'VMI Fit'.
Ambient Support by a Personal Coach for Exercising and Rehabilitation
Atlantis Ambient and Pervasive Intelligence, 2013
In this paper an agent-based ambient system is presented to support persons in learning specific movement patterns. The ambient system serves as a personal coach that observes a person's movement pattern, and analyses this based on comparison with an ideal pattern generated by optimisation using a computational musculoskeletal model for this type of pattern minimizing knee joint loading. Based on this analysis the Personal Coach generates advices to adapt the person's pattern in order to better approximate the ideal pattern. The Personal Coach has been designed using the agent design method DESIRE, thereby reusing an available generic agent model. The system was evaluated (a proof of principle) by setting up an environment in which sensoring of body part positions was incorporated. In evaluations with a few subjects substantial improvement of the movement pattern compared to the ideal movement pattern was achieved.
Open Source Virtual Worlds and Low Cost Sensors for Physical Rehab of Patients with Chronic Diseases
Springer eBooks, 2010
For patients with chronic diseases, exercise is a key part of rehab to deal better with their illness. Some of them do rehabilitation at home with telemedicine systems. However, keeping to their exercising program is challenging and many abandon the rehabilitation. We postulate that information technologies for socializing and serious games can encourage patients to keep doing physical exercise and rehab. In this paper we present Virtual Valley, a low cost telemedicine system for home exercising, based on open source virtual worlds and utilizing popular low cost motion controllers (e.g. Wii Remote) and medical sensors. Virtual Valley allows patient to socialize, learn, and play group based serious games while exercising.