All-female team merges high tech and high touch to serve stroke survivors - smartphone monitoring

This makes a lot of sense except that lots of survivors are one-handed and use that hand to get various body parts into the correct position. But better than nothing.
http://thedailyrecord.com/2015/11/27/all-female-team-merges-high-tech-and-high-touch-to-serve-stroke-survivors-2/
Three professors at Towson University have developed a mobile app called ARMStrokes that allows stroke survivors to use a smart phone to perform their rehab exercises anywhere.
Stroke is a major contributor to adult disability in many countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year. Stroke often causes long-term disabilities that affect cognitive, physical, and speech functions. Prompt and intensive rehabilitation exercise is critical for stroke recovery. However, only 31 percent of stroke survivors actually complete recommended exercise due to a variety of factors, including issues of accessibility and lack of motivation.
Smartphones are easily accessible and can be carried anyplace. They also do not require complicated installation or configuration processes, and can serve as a resource for learning and entertainment. With the proper app, smartphones can be used as a rehabilitation platform. Individuals can play rehabilitation games delivered through mobile phones while watching TV, relaxing in the park, or even waiting in line in a grocery store. In addition to the benefit of easy access, the mobile phone can also support timely communication between stroke survivors, therapists and their caregivers, so that compliance to in-home exercise programs and progress can be monitored effectively.
“Since the functionality of stroke patients varies dramatically, ARMStrokes can be easily customized to fit each stroke survivor’s specific functionalities in different recovery stages,” says Dr. Sonia Lawson who works in the area of adult neurological conditions and stroke rehabilitation in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science. Completing the interdisciplinary team is Dr. Katherine Tang and Dr. Heidi Feng, who are both members of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences faculty. Dr. Tang’s research focuses on multimedia and game design. Dr. Feng is an expert in assistive technologies, human computer interaction and health informatics.
During each exercise session, the app guides the user through a series of gross motor movements (movements that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, torso and feet) and provides visual, audio and haptic feedback, usually in the form of phone vibrations, according to the quality of the movement performed.

Figure 2. Screenshots for daily goals and calibration settings.

ARMStrokes supports several arm motions such as shoulder flexion, abduction, elbow flexion and extension, and forearm pronation/supination. Built-in smartphone sensors detect the excursion of movements – number of repetitions and degree of movement – and transmit the data to a secured server. With a password, a therapist, caregiver or user can access the secured data server via a website to track performance and progress over time and improve therapy outcomes. The therapist can also make modifications to exercise programs remotely through the secure network.
The research team is conducting a field study in collaboration with the University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute to evaluate the app without patients.
The project is supported by both the Aetna Foundation and the School of Emerging Technologies at Towson University. More information about the project is available at www.tustroketech.com.

Read more: http://thedailyrecord.com/2015/11/27/all-female-team-merges-high-tech-and-high-touch-to-serve-stroke-survivors-2/#ixzz3sj0aSPlf