Virtual anatomical interactivity: developing a future rehabilitation aid for survivors of Acquired Brain Injury

摘要

Anatomically realistic virtual upper extremities with analogous true range of motion were developed and made available in a platform of video game-like exercises and tasks to pilot test relearning to plan and execute purposeful motor control and related executive function in survivors of acquired brain injury. The platform game-play is designed for survivors disabled from using physical extremities due to brain injury and for other conditions of brain-motor malfunction. Survivors control virtual upper extremities (before being able to control physical extremities), in order to simulate on-screen physical exercises and task completions, i.e. they stimulate brain processes for pre-action planning and training. This paper describes several imagery (visualization) methods of virtual reality rehabilitation, reports on use of a virtual anatomical interactivity ("VAI") platform by twelve participant/survivors of acquired brain injury and suggests opportunities for expanded collaborative research.