By Kalwinder KaurJun 18 2012
The Xbox computer technology has been pioneered by the University of Southampton along with Roke Manor Research in order to develop the very first hand joint movement measuring process in the world.
This measuring process will help recovering of manual agility of stroke patients at home. People with a stroke can recover faster as this project will enable them to do a lot more of precise and regular exercises.
Limb movements of patients are monitored by the Xbox Kinect that allows controller-free gaming. The University team has further introduced another enhancement by developing an algorithm that enables tracking and measuring of fine dexterity and angles of the hand and joint of each finger movement. The main aim of the team is to collect the data as the patients perform exercises that are displayed on the TV. Therapists in charge of the patients will receive the feedback of this data so that the patients will continue to be monitored by the therapists and the need for the patients to frequently visit the hospital will be reduced.
The team also aims in creating a number of computer games to enhance the patient’s interest in the rehabilitation process. These games will be created based on the ability of each patient, and scores for each patient will increase based on their joint movements.
Roke’s Healthcare Business Sector Manager, Simon Wickes stated that this project could bring about a major difference in the lives of so many individuals suffering from stroke. Wickes also stated that the UK has an increasing number of stoke patients especially those suffering from problems relating to the upper limb. This project according to Wickes is cost-effective and it will also create a major impact on the expenditure faced by the UK’s social and health system towards rehabilitation and caring for stroke patients.
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