Experts from the UNAM developed video games for the rehabilitation of patients with neurological damage caused by a stroke or a cerebral infarction.
Neurological damage: Video games for neurorehabilitation of people affected in their upper motor skills
In addition, they also work on position and motion sensors; they already have a glove with data sensors, an electronic roller, and an ergonomic casing for a conventional mouse.
At the Institute of Cellular Physiology (IFC) of the highest house of studies. The Laboratory for Research and Development of Interactive Applications for Neuro-Rehabilitation (LANR) emerged. Which develops video games for neurorehabilitation of people affected in their upper motor skills (arms and hands). Due to a cerebrovascular event (CVD), the first cause of acquired disability in older adults).
Through video games they do their exercises in virtual environments and from their home
Through the LANR, the IFC seeks to timely help CVD patients who do not have access to rehabilitation services in the public health system. Also to those who, being beneficiaries, lose the window of opportunity to recover the damaged functions due to the delay in care.
With five years of existence, the objective of the laboratory is the development of interactive applications such as videogames. Associated with position and movement sensors, such as Microsoft’s Kinect, that support rehabilitation therapies in patients with some type of neurological disability.
“The most pressing task of this laboratory is that those affected start their therapy as soon as possible, and with the greatest frequency, through video games that allow them to do their exercises in virtual environments and from their home,” he explains to the Gaceta de UNAM, teacher Ana María Escalante Gonzalbo, head of the LANR.
The developments are focused on supporting rehabilitation and are not intended to replace traditional therapy
Advised by an expert in neurorehabilitation, María Isabel Heredia López, the LANR group had the idea that sensors and video games would reach the homes of convalescent people and they could have them on their computers to perform their therapies with the indicated frequency and without the presence of the therapist.
The university states that “these developments are focused on supporting rehabilitation and are not intended to replace traditional therapy: they are a complement that provides patients with a certain independence so that they do not have to travel to clinics or consulting rooms to receive their therapies.”
They have already developed 10 video game-type applications
The LANR multidisciplinary team has developed 10 video game-type applications, four of which were tested in 2019, in a pilot project with patients from the CDMX National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, the results of which were encouraging, as described in the Gaceta de the UNAM.
The project provided information to improve video games and sensors, and made it possible to identify which patients, according to neurological damage, will find them useful to recover motor functions.
Among the games developed is the ‘Topo-crisis’, in which the patient must hit the mole before it hides, to rehabilitate the muscular strength of the shoulder, elbow and wrist, as well as the range of flexibility in the horizontal plane.
Greater impact of our technology
Finally, for the recovery of cognitive functions, training is also very important, repeating certain tasks, such as concentration and observation. Hundreds, thousands of times. This can be achieved with video games that train the patient in very particular functions.
Thus, a “greater impact of our technology” is expected because in this period (between the second and week 12) “the patient is a sponge”. Your brain is in the best position to have a good rehabilitation.
Related Notes: