Virtual Reality Post Stroke Upper Limb Assessment using Unreal Engine 4

• Published in: Engineering letters 2021-11, Vol.29 (4), p.1511
• Main Authors: Lew, Kai Liang, Sim, Kok Swee, Tan, Shing Chiang, Abas, Fazly Salleh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Games; Helmet mounted displays; Human motion; Human subjects; Rehabilitation; Stroke; Taskload; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 1816-093X; 1816-0948

A person who has suffered a stroke may face upper limb motor impairments. Many daily life's tasks involve the use of the upper limb. Therefore, rehabilitation training is necessary to improve motor ability and recovery of stroke patients. However, a stroke patient may feel bored and unmotivated when doing the same rehabilitation tasks repeatedly for a long duration. This paper presents an evaluation of the performance based on a virtual reality (VR) upper limb assessment method and feedback from forty human subjects. Forty human subjects consist of twenty healthy (control) subjects and twenty post-stroke patients who were invited to join in an upper limb motor rehabilitation program. They participated in four games under VR upper limb assessment, namely, 'Pick and Place' game, 'Mirror Pick and Place' game, 'Hit the Ball' game, and 'Wall Climbing' game. All participants wore a VR head-mounted display (HMD) and used hand controllers to perform the assessment. Based on the four games, the stroke group achieved a better score in the 'Mirror Pick and Place' game compared to the other games. A NASA Load Task Index shows that the 'Hit the Ball' game has the highest task load while the 'Mirror Pick and Place' game has the lowest task load. Feedbacks from subjects highlighted that the system was easy to use and the program was full of engagement.