Assessment of Virtual Reality Systems for Upper Extremity Motion Capture and Quantification of Post Spinal Cord Injury Movement Task Performance
Date of Award
5-5-2024
Degree Name
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Department
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Advisor/Chair
Allison Kinney
Abstract
The average physical therapy clinic lacks the funding and resources to install highly specific movement assessment and rehabilitation tools. Moreover, engagement of patients during rehabilitation is difficult to maintain due to the mundane nature of the routines. Virtual Reality (VR) systems have the capacity to become an all-in-one system that gives an engaging and highly customizable experience for each user. VR also incorporates wearable sensors that allow for tracking the position and orientation of individual segments. This study has two primary aims, the first is to validate that a VR system is capable of upper extremity movement motion capture comparable to the golden standard of infrared motion capture. The second aim is to assess movement task data extracted from a VR game to see if quantification of a cohort with spinal cord injury (SCI) is possible through a simulated task. Two cohorts were included in this study, a group of persons with history of SCI (n=7), and a control group (n=9). Each participant was asked to play a modified commercially available VR game known as BeatSaber. The levels were separated into therapy-based mirrored, opposing, and unilateral tasks. Moreover, each task was defined by its position and orientation relative to the user. Additionally, task color was used to distinguish which hand to perform the task with. Results from the VR system compared to the IR system showed that the overall error between the two systems was on average between 4.2°-8.6° and showed small instantaneous errors with all joint angles being less than 2°. Moreover, the instantaneous error was even lower at peak values reported in the IR system. Results allowed for a comparison of performance data for a combination of seven SCI with seven age and gender matched control groups. Task related data showed that SCI tended to have asymmetrical impact from injury and performed worse compared to the control group.
Keywords
Biomechanics, Gamification, Rehabilitation, Motor Control, Motor Performance
Rights Statement
Copyright 2024, author
Recommended Citation
Brown, Trent J., "Assessment of Virtual Reality Systems for Upper Extremity Motion Capture and Quantification of Post Spinal Cord Injury Movement Task Performance" (2024). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7570.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/graduate_theses/7570
