The 'Kinect Effect' adds successes in the rehabilitation of patients with brain injuries and in education

Microsoft's Kinect motion sensor has managed to go beyond entertainment in recent years to be a fundamental element in rehabilitation projects for patients with brain injuries., multiple sclerosis, as well as in the educational environment, with positive results of VirtualRehab collected in a study presented at the 8th World Congress of Neurorehabilitation.

The study, developed by the Eugenia Epalza Basque Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and the Department of Neurology of the University of Navarra, demonstrates the validity and effectiveness of using VirtualRehab for a continuous period of time combined with traditional therapy in patients with multiple sclerosis. The results obtained show a notable improvement in several functions, especially in static and dynamic balance, in the level of fatigue and the degree of functional independence.

Thanks to VirtualRehab, that uses motion sensor Microsoft Kinect, The physiotherapist can plan sessions that allow him to work on the different affected functions of each patient through nine video games, not only for patients with multiple sclerosis but with other types of neurodegenerative diseases, neuromuscular and cerebrovascular, like Parkinson's, brain damage, Alzheimer, dystrophies and even old age.

To date, VirtualRehab has registered more than 5.200 game sessions, with more than five hundred hours of therapeutic play carried out with patients, and has been recently endorsed by the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN).

Specifically, This prospective study was carried out with twenty multiple sclerosis patients twice a week for four months. And 13% of them experienced an improvement in their Functional Independence Scale (FIM); he 40% positively favored their balance according to the Berg scale; and 20% achieved an improvement on the Tinetti scale, balance and gait assessment, and a 47% decreased your fatigue level.

On the other hand, This study has allowed us to obtain other interesting data, with improvements in his condition and depression (27 y 13% of patients, respectively) according to the HAD scale that assesses these parameters. Regarding the game itself, he 100% of patients improved the time to finish the games, and 86% increased his own score and a 85% managed to increase his percentage of successes in the targets.

After analyzing all this data, The study concludes that VirtualRehab is an effective tool for MS patients combined with traditional rehabilitation, and its results are presented these days at the 8th World Congress of Neurorehabilitation, of the 8 al 12 April in Istanbul (Türkiye), which brings together rehabilitation specialists from all over the world and revolves around clinical practices, international studies, innovation and the main areas of neurorehabilitation.

At the moment, VirtualRehab has nine games that allow you to rehabilitate different motor functions through personalized physical rehabilitation programs, with exercises aimed at rehabilitating balance problems and lack of coordination, movement and posture disorders and motor deficits, inter alia. The system only requires a Kinect for Windows, and uses motion capture technology to make the user the main actor in the rehabilitation, no need for any driver. Each session is recorded in a database, so that the physiotherapist has access to the information and monitoring of each patient.