I bet this doesn't make it to the United States because it was not invented here(Mexico). But ask your doctor about it anyway.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=151870&CultureCode=en
The product is patented and aims to be commercialized. It has been
successfully tested at the National Institutes of Pediatrics, Neurology
and Neurosurgery.
Artificial intelligence, virtual worlds and interaction with video
games, are the elements of a new therapy designed by several Mexican
institutions to help people who have had a stroke and children with
cerebral palsy to recover mobility of their upper extremities quickly.
The purpose of developing the computational system called Gesture
Therapy (Terapia de Gestos) is to offer a low cost and more effective
alternative than traditional methods, said the research leader, Luis
Enrique Sucar Succar, researcher at the National Institute of
Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) in Mexico.
The technology has been proven clinically successful at the National
Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (INNN) and Pediatrics (INP), it
encompasses a computer with a webcam and a special handle with a color
sphere and force sensors, which detects the exercises performed by the
patient.
The idea is that a virtual agent instructs the patient to perform
tasks through different games designed to exercise important parts of
the arm for rehabilitation, such as the shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers
and using different types of movement as flexion, extension and
pressing. This allows the patient to perform their rehabilitation at
home, without the need for a therapist to be present at all time.
On the other hand, the virtual environments in which the person does
the therapy simulate daily activities to give present a normal lifestyle
. For example, some of these tasks are cleaning a window, painting a
room, cooking an egg, grocery shopping, added Enrique Sucar, PhD in
Computer Science from the Imperial College in Britain.
An important part of the system is based on artificial intelligence,
since it is responsible for monitoring and evaluating user’s
performance, while he or she exercises as indicated by the virtual
agent. With these results the difficulty level of the game is set, based
on the movements recorded by the camera and pressure sensors of the
handle, it increases or decreases the level of hardness.
The INAOE researcher, who is also an active member of the Mexico
Academy of Engineering, said another utility of artificial intelligence
is detection of "compensation" for the patient, which happens when he or
she moves the whole body instead of just the affected arm.
While the visual tracking software analyzes images obtained from the
camera, tracking the position of the hand in three space dimensions is
performed. For this, a color ball at the side of the handle is used, its
position estimated using computer vision techniques that combine color
and texture information of the object.
The system maps the coordinates of the patient's hand in "real"
space, and transfers them to the virtual space, where it interacts with
an imaginary world, which is observed through the computer screen, Sucar
Succar added.
The researcher, who is currently on a sabbatical stay in Italy, said
that to achieve the development of Therapy Gestures collaboration of
researchers and physicians at the from several institutes and
universities were required.
The evaluation was carried out at the Rehabilitation Unit of the INNN
where the results showed an improvement in the movement of the affected
limb, increasing motivation and adherence to treatment.
Now, the next step is to simultaneously begin a series of clinical
trials with about a hundred patients from various hospitals like INNN,
the National Institute of Rehabilitation, the University Hospital of
Puebla and CRIT (Children Rehabilitation Center) of the same federal
entity; to provide the Therapy of Gestures as a commercial product.
Finally, the teacher in electrical engineering by Stanford
University, added that he already has a patent in Mexico for the concept
called "3D therapy system with monocular visual tracking for the
rehabilitation of the upper limb in humans". (Agencia ID)
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