EMG Biofeedback Based VR System for Hand Rotation and Grasping Rehabilitation

Individuals who have upper limb movement problems include people with cerebral palsy (CP) and stroke victims. Both these conditions lead to difficulties in daily activities such as reaching, grasping etc. Virtual reality (VR), which could provide a repetitive multimodal task-oriented rehabilitation environment for patients to undertake self-training in safety, is considered to be a suitable tool for medical health rehabilitation. Using electromyography (EMG) biofeedback in rehabilitation could provide patients with opportunities to improve the ability by assessing their muscle activity response and learning self-control of movement during specific training tasks. This paper presents a study on developing EMG as an important interactive tool in a VR based system for hand rotation and grasping motion rehabilitation. The input interface includes an EMG system and a real-time magnetic motion tracking system, and the output interface is a PC monitor. The developed EMG biofeedback based VR system enables the user to interact with virtual objects in real-time with multiform feedback. Ten healthy subjects participated in the preliminary task evaluation test, and the results suggest that the specified skills have improved during training. The beneficial effects of the developed system indicate the potential values for further clinical application.

[1]  A. J. Fridlund,et al.  Guidelines for human electromyographic research. , 1986, Psychophysiology.

[2]  G.C. Burdea,et al.  Virtual reality-enhanced stroke rehabilitation , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[3]  M. Holden,et al.  Virtual Environment Training: A New Tool for Neurorehabilitation , 2002 .

[4]  Michael McNeill,et al.  Virtual reality in the rehabilitation of the upper limb after hemiplegic stroke: a randomised pilot study , 2008 .

[5]  Bruce C. Wheeler,et al.  EMG feature evaluation for movement control of upper extremity prostheses , 1995 .

[6]  Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen,et al.  Virtual Rehabilitation after Stroke , 2008, MIE.

[7]  R. Kleissen,et al.  Electromyography in the biomechanical analysis of human movement and its clinical application. , 1998, Gait & posture.

[8]  Tadej Bajd,et al.  Virtual environment for lower-extremities training. , 2008, Gait & posture.

[9]  Katharina S Sunnerhagen,et al.  Three-dimensional kinematic motion analysis of a daily activity drinking from a glass: a pilot study , 2006, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[10]  Jiping He,et al.  Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation Open Access Recent Developments in Biofeedback for Neuromotor Rehabilitation Review of Early Biofeedback Therapy Current Developments in Biofeedback in Neurorehabilitation Table 1: Function of Basic Modules in Multisensing Biofeedback Systems for Task T , 2022 .

[11]  Sandeep K Subramanian,et al.  Virtual reality environments for post-stroke arm rehabilitation , 2007, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[12]  Heidi Sveistrup,et al.  Motor rehabilitation using virtual reality , 2004, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[13]  Michael Recce,et al.  A virtual reality based exercise system for hand rehabilitation post-stroke: transfer to function , 2004, EMBC 2004.

[14]  S. Wolf,et al.  Evaluation of electromyographic biofeedback as an adjunct to therapeutic exercise in treating the lower extremities of hemiplegic patients. , 1981, Physical therapy.

[15]  J. Carr,et al.  Neurological Rehabilitation: Optimizing Motor Performance , 2003 .

[16]  Jim Richards,et al.  Biomechanics in clinic and research : an interactive teaching and learning course , 2008 .

[17]  Michael Recce,et al.  A Virtual RealityBased Exercise System for Hand Rehabilitation Post-Stroke , 2005, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[18]  Mindy F Levin,et al.  Reaching in reality and virtual reality: a comparison of movement kinematics in healthy subjects and in adults with hemiparesis , 2004, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[19]  Stroke I , 2018, Rapid Neurology and Neurosurgery.

[20]  Richard Shiavi,et al.  Electromyography: Physiology, Engineering, and Noninvasive Applications [Book Review] , 2006, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine.

[21]  Lik-Kwan Shark,et al.  Overcoming the information overload problem in a multiform feedback-based virtual reality system for hand motion rehabilitation: healthy subject case study , 2009, Virtual Reality.

[22]  E. Dursun,et al.  Effects of biofeedback treatment on gait in children with cerebral palsy , 2004, Disability and rehabilitation.

[23]  S L Wolf,et al.  Electromyographic biofeedback applications to stroke patients. A critical review. , 1983, Physical therapy.