ADVERTISEMENTs
.png)
VR glove aids brain injury patients in rehabilitation
Raviraj Nataraj’s research integrates VR and sensory feedback to enhance motor rehabilitation for brain injury patients.
_11zon.jpg)
Raviraj Nataraj / Stevens Institute of Technology
A virtual reality (VR)-integrated glove developed by Raviraj Nataraj, an associate professor in the department of biomedical engineering, at Stevens Institute of Technology, is showing significant results for patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
The glove, developed at the Movement Control Rehabilitation (MOCORE) Laboratory, uses sensors to detect when a patient securely grasps an object. Its system provides real-time feedback through color changes and sound cues in a VR environment, enhancing engagement during therapy.
"The idea is that for someone with compromised hand function, like after a traumatic brain injury, we can inform them when their grasp is secure during hand-function training," said Nataraj who leads the research laboratory.
"We use virtual reality to inform them with changes in color and richer sounds that are more cognitively engaging to accelerate gains in function with rehabilitation practice."
A recent study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information examined the impact of sensory-driven cueing. Researchers initially expected both TBI patients and a control group to show improved performance with stronger sensory cues. However, findings indicated that the control group performed better with simpler auditory cues, while TBI patients benefited from more intense visual and audio cues.
"This finding clearly demonstrates how sensitive each person can be to sensory-driven cueing, especially in the presence of neuro-injury, and how personalizing features of these cues – intensity and duration, for example – is critical to optimize rehabilitative outcomes with such approaches," said Nataraj.
A prototype of Raviraj Nataraj's Intelligent Glove system. / Raviraj Nataraj/ Stevens Institute of TechnologyNataraj’s team is expanding research to develop an upper-body rehabilitation system using VR environments that respond to muscle and brain signals. With VR technology becoming more accessible, he sees potential for its use in both clinical settings and at-home therapy.
“Physical therapists can more readily employ VR technologies with rehabilitative therapies at the clinic. It will also be viable for therapists to provide more remote supervision for patients using such systems at home."
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
ADVERTISEMENT
.jpg)
Video
.jpg)
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login