Phantom limb pain is a debilitating condition for which no effective treatment has been found. We hypothesised that re-engagement of central and peripheral circuitry involved in motor execution could reduce phantom limb pain via competitive plasticity and reversal of cortical reorganisation. Fourteen patients received 12 sessions of phantom motor execution using machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and serious gaming. They showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in all metrics of phantom limb pain. Two of four patients who were on medication reduced their intake. Improvements remained 6 months after the last treatment. Promotion of phantom motor execution aided by machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and gaming is a non-invasive, non-pharmacological, and engaging treatment with no identified side-effects at present.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2253673
Smartphones are omnipresent in society and offer convenient and suitable sensors for mobility monitoring applications. To enhance our understanding of human activity recognition (HAR) system performance for able-bodied and populations with gait deviations, this research evaluated a custom smartphone-based HAR classifier on fifteen able-bodied participants and fifteen participants who suffered a stroke. Participants performed a consecutive series of mobility tasks and daily living activities while wearing a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone on their waist to collect accelerometer and gyroscope data. Five features were derived from the sensor data and used to classify participant activities (decision tree). Sensitivity, specificity and F-scores were calculated to evaluate HAR classifier performance. The classifier performed well for both populations when differentiating mobile from immobile states (F-score ) 94 %). As activity recognition complexity increased, HAR system sensitivity and specificity decreased for the stroke population, particularly when using information derived from participant posture to make classification decisions. Human activity recognition using a smartphone based system can be accomplished for both able-bodied and stroke populations; however, an increase in activity classification complexity leads to a decrease in HAR performance with a stroke population. The study results can be used to guide smartphone HAR system development for populations with differing movement characteristics.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2131305
The aim of our project was to develop a telerehabilitation service which would help compensating the lack of rehabilitation teams on the primary level. We also wanted to test the suitability of the developed content and assess its feasibility for use it in clinical practice. We tested our own telerehabiltiation model based on movies for rehabilitation that patients can access via tablet PC and monitoring by professionals during videoconferences. Methods: We developed the telerehabilitation model, prepared the required infrastructure (web portal, web multimedia server, Skype teleconferencing system), prepared the content (movies for patients to watch at home), decided how the patients would access the content, and organised the videoconferences. The telerehabilitation solution was tested by five patients after trans-tibial amputation. Results: Twenty-six movies were produced, classified and stored on the cloud server. The therapists prescribed 7 to 17 different exercise movies per patient; the patients watched the movies from 0 to 11 times. The occupational therapist and the physiotherapist held one videoconference per week with each patient (two to seven in total). Each patient experienced problems with the mobile internet connection at least once, but the problems were quickly resolved. Conclusions: The developed rehabilitation solution is appropriate and useful in clinical practice for patients staying at home after trans-tibial amputation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2114409
The aim of our project was to develop a telerehabilitation service which would help compensating the lack of rehabilitation teams on the primary level. We also wanted to test the suitability of the developed content and assess its feasibility for use it in clinical practice. We tested our own telerehabiltiation model based on movies for rehabilitation that patients can access via tablet PC and monitoring by professionals during videoconferences. Methods: We developed the telerehabilitation model, prepared the required infrastructure (web portal, web multimedia server, Skype teleconferencing system), prepared the content (movies for patients to watch at home), decided how the patients would access the content, and organised the videoconferences. The telerehabilitation solution was tested by five patients after trans-tibial amputation. Results: Twenty-six movies were produced, classified and stored on the cloud server. The therapists prescribed 7 to 17 different exercise movies per patient; the patients watched the movies from 0 to 11 times. The occupational therapist and the physiotherapist held one videoconference per week with each patient (two to seven in total). Each patient experienced problems with the mobile internet connection at least once, but the problems were quickly resolved. Conclusions: The developed rehabilitation solution is appropriate and useful in clinical practice for patients staying at home after trans-tibial amputation.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2024553
Supervised rehabilitation treatment can significantly improve the functional recovery over a longer period of time in patients after stroke. Tele-rehabilitation technology allows the use of rehabilitation services in the patient's home environment. The purpose of our pilot study was to test the effectiveness of continuing exercise at home after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation by using a of tele-rehabilitation service. Methods: The study included 10 patients after the first stroke. Upon discharge from the inpatient rehabilitation the patients were randomized into the test group and the control group; there were five patients in each group. The test group received tele-rehabilitation treatment in the form of movies under the supervision of a therapist for 3 months after discharge. The control group received exercises in written form, which they performed without the supervision of a therapist in their home environment. The assessments (passive range of joint motion, muscle tone in the upper limb, pain and motor function) were performed at the time of discharge in the rehabilitation hospital and in the home environment after 3 months of training. Results: There was an improvement in function of the upper limb and general motor function, reduction of muscle tone in the elbow, wrist and finger flexors, and a decrease in pain in both groups after 3 months of training, but there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. Shoulder joint abduction passive range of motion was statistically significantly better in the test group after the training (p = 0,017). Conclusions: Tele-rehabilitation service proved to be an effective and useful method to improve motor skills and joint mobility and also to reduce pain and muscle tone for patients in the chronic period after stroke.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2281833