Software complex for assessment and rehabilitation of motor disorders in patients with ischemic stroke

Objective. Development of a specialized software complex that creates a controlled virtual environment as well as to capture and calculate the movement data in the process of rehabilitation.

Materials and methods. To evaluate the impact of visual stimuli created using the augmented reality system on the motor function, a software was developed that visualizes data via augmented reality glasses and processes data obtained from motion capture sensors. The study was conducted at the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Department of Medical and Biological Cybernetics of Siberian State Medical University in 2018–2019. The sample included 59 patients with acute ischemic cerebral stroke in the middle cerebral artery. The course of motor rehabilitation using augmented reality technology was ten days. The duration of one training session was 60 minutes.

Results. Motor neurorehabilitation of patients with paresis of the upper extremities using augmented reality makes it possible to improve motor skills. Analysis of the accuracy of movements showed a significant increase in the value of the spectral criterion with an increase in the number of trainings, which indicates a decrease in the number of unnecessary movements during the main task. A significant increase in the number of completed movements with each subsequent training was revealed. This indicates a rise in the speed of the task over the course of rehabilitation, as well as reduction of the rest period between the attempts performed during one training session.

Conclusion. The developed specialized software recreates a controlled virtual environment with the ability to register the parameters of human movement. The method was used for rehabilitation of motor disorders in patients with ischemic stroke of the brain and paresis of the upper extremities. The results of the study revealed a significant increase in the accuracy of movements, and a rise in endurance, which indicates the effectiveness of the approach in motor neurorehabilitation. 

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