Exergames for telerehabilitation

Abstract: Recent advancements in technology have improved the connectivity between humans enhancing the transfer of information. Leveraging these technological marvels in the healthcare industry has led to the development of telehealth allowing patients and clinicians to receive and administer treatment remotely. Telerehabilitation is a subset of telehealth that facilitates remote rehabilitation treatment for patients. Providing rehabilitative services to the aging baby boomer population requires tech-savvy solutions to augment the therapists and clinicians for effective remote monitoring and tele-medicine. Hence, this thesis develops easy-to-use exergames for low-cost mechatronic devices targeting rehabilitation of post-stroke patients. Specifically, it demonstrates wearable inertial sensors for exergames consisting of an animated virtual coach for providing patients with instructions for performing range of motion exercises. Next, a gaming environment is developed for task-specific rehabilitation such as eating. Finally, exergames are developed for rehabilitation of pincer grasping. In addition to gamified interfaces providing an engaging rehabilitation experience to the user, the data acquired from the mechatronic devices facilitate data-driven telerehabilitation.