MoRehab XR

MoRehab XR

MoRehab XR

Motion tracked rehabilitation through extended realities

Project Info

Start date:
August 2020

End date:
December 2024

Funding:

Coordinator:
Artanim

Summary

After a stabilization surgery or a traumatic accident, physical rehabilitation is often required to restore the joint’s normal function. This process requires very regular and repetitive training sessions. The regularity and involvement of the patient being critical for success of the procedure, maintaining them interested and motivated while repeating similar exercises over and over is one of the main challenges of the physical therapist. During these sessions, it is also difficult to objectively monitor small progresses or the lack of the latter. On the other end of the spectrum, some video games have proved to be very effective in motivating people to perform pretty repetitive tasks on their controllers in order to travel through a story or a challenge.

The goal of this project is to use the captivating capabilities of video games to entertain and motivate the patients through their rehabilitation, by designing a set of “exercise games” (called exergames) that will be won by performing the correct routines required for a proper physical rehabilitation. Through the use of modern motion tracking technology, the exergames will also be able to track the evolution of the physical recovery of the patients on a session per session basis, to adapt the challenges that the patients will face based on their needs and actual capacities, and if need be to alert the medical personnel early if some problems persist, or if no progresses are observed.

In this project, Artanim is in charge of building a platform suitable for these exergames, as well as designing and developing these exergames, and implementing the tools for a standard assessment of the patient’s performance. On the other hand, the medical usability and validity of the setup and exergames will be tested and assessed by the clinical team of La Tour Hospital over a large set of voluntary patients. Both teams will also work together to develop metrics to evaluate and adapt the patient’s performance during the sessions, thanks to the extended capabilities of the motion tracking system with respect to the data available in conventional physical therapy.

Partners

Artanim
Conception of the exergames and of a platform adapted to perform them, development of a set of medical scores adapted to the extended capabilities of the motion tracking system

La Tour Hospital – Division of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery
Clinical tests, co-design of new physical evaluation metrics adapted to the motion tracking capabilities

Related Publications

Mancuso M, Charbonnier C. Technical evaluation of the fidelity of the HTC Vive for upper limb tracking, 42nd International Conference on Biomechanics in Sports, Salzburg, Austria, July 2024.
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CycloVR

CycloVR

CycloVR

VR rehabilitation device

Project Info

Start date:
April 2019

End date:
September 2019

Funding:
University Hospitals of Geneva

Coordinator:
University Hospitals of Geneva

Summary

Immobilization and prolonged bed rest are causing deleterious consequences at the musculoskeletal, pulmonary, cardiac, endocrine and metabolic levels. Physical exercise is an effective way to maintain muscle strength and limit these adverse effects.

The University Hospitals of Geneva developed a “Cyclo” rehabilitation device that adapts to the patient’s physical abilities, irrespective of the nature of his/her pathology (neurological, orthopedic, etc.) and his/her conditions of hospitalization (bed, chair, wheelchair). Several scenarios are proposed according to the type of movement (circular, linear).

In this project, Artanim integrated a virtual reality (VR) module to the device in order to get patients moving actively or passively into an immersive VR world that would make them forget during the time of care the clinical context (or even forget the pain). For example, a patient could go pedaling on a river (as in the video above) or take a bike ride in the countryside by pedaling at his/her own speed from an hospital bed. The goal iss also to gamify the rehabilitation session in order to motivate patients to do physical exercises.

Partners

University Hospitals of Geneva – Division of Intensive Care
Development of the cycloergometer, medical supervision

Artanim
VR module, gamification

Shoulder Rehabilitation

Shoulder Rehabilitation

Shoulder Rehabilitation

Simulation of physical exercises

Project Info

Start date:
April 2014

End date:
December 2014

Funding:
University Hospitals of Geneva

Coordinator:
Artanim

Summary

Strengthening of shoulder muscles in rehabilitation protocols and sport practice can be achieved by a wide range of different exercises and several types of technique. In presence of a rotator cuff lesion, articular cartilage pathology or instability, recommendations for design of a shoulder strength training protocol aim at avoiding or minimizing subacromial impingement and stress on the articular cartilages or labrum. Very limited objective data is at disposable to emit such recommendations.

The goal of this study was to capture and simulate 30 to 50 rehabilitation exercises to study the impact on the glenohumeral joint (e.g. cartilage’s compression, incidence of subacromial impingement) and rotator cuff (e.g. tendon lengthening of the subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor). Ultimately, this study will better target rehabilitation exercises of the shoulder.

Partners

Artanim
Modeling and simulation of the shoulder

University Hospitals of Geneva – Unit of Physical Medicine and Orthopedic Rehabilitation
Selection of physical exercises

University Hospitals of Geneva – Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology
Medical supervision

Related Publications

Charbonnier C, Lädermann A, Kevelham B, Chagué S, Hoffmeyer P, Holzer N. Shoulder Strengthening Exercises Adapted to Specific Shoulder Pathologies Can Be Selected Using New Simulation Techniques: A Pilot Study, Int J CARS, 13(2):321-330, 2018.
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Charbonnier C, Chagué S, Lädermann A, Holzer N. Évaluation des effets potentiellement délétères d’exercices de l’épaule en fonction des pathologies rencontrées, Congrès de la Société Francophone d’Arthroscopie 2016, Paris, France, Revue de chirurgie orthopédique et traumatologique, 102(8):S307, December 2016.
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Holzer N, Chagué S, Lädermann A, Ziltener JL, Hoffmeyer P, Charbonnier C. High differences in subacromial space height and gleno-humeral compression according to shoulder muscle exercise type, Swiss Med Wkly, 145(Suppl. 210):32S, 2015.
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Charbonnier C, Kevelham B, Chagué S, Lädermann A, Ziltener JL, Hoffmeyer P, Holzer N. Impact of Shoulder Strengthening Exercises on the Shoulder Joint, 33rd International Conference on Biomechanics in Sports, Poitiers, France, June 2015.
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Charbonnier C, Kevelham B, Chagué S, Lädermann A, Ziltener JL, Hoffmeyer P, Holzer N. A Simplified Technique To Estimate Rotator Cuff Elongation During Complex Shoulder Motion, 29th International Congress of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Barcelona, Spain, Int J CARS, June 2015.
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Holzer N, Chagué S, Lädermann A, Ziltener JL, Hoffmeyer P, Charbonnier C. Impact of Shoulder Strengthening Exercises on Subacromial Space Height and on Articular Cartilages and Labrum Compression Using Motion Capture Analysis, 16th EFORT Congress, Prague, Czech Republic, June 2015.
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