Clinical Kinematic Tracking of Upper Extremity VR Rehabilitation Post Spinal Cord Injury

Date of Award

5-9-2026

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Advisor/Chair

Megan Reissman

Abstract

Over 300,000 people in the United States alone are living with a spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI often causes a variety of Upper Extremity (UE) impairments and struggles that limit an individual’s ability to independently live and perform normal activities of daily living. Current styles of physical therapy for SCI can at times yield a lack of engagement, motivation, and objective quantification of movement. Virtual Reality (VR) based therapy offers a promising method of bridging this gap by providing controlled therapeutic tasks in an engaging manner. This study examined this approach through the use of Beat Saber, a rhythm-based VR game, using custom created levels to create specific biomechanically targeted task movements. The result allowed for collection and comparison of data and kinematic analysis directly from sensors built into the VR system. In this study, 7 participants with SCI and 120 healthy control participants, completed a series of specific movement tasks across multiple custom level types specifically designed to target biomechanically relevant therapeutic goals including torso strength and control, speed and coordination, and overall kinematic ranges of motion. UE kinematic data was collected using Vive VR trackers and Brekel software. Through the study, metrics were collected including hand path length, torso range of motion, vertical shoulder elevation, horizontal shoulder adduction, elbow flexion/extension, as well as frontal and sagittal wrist angles. Results showed that Contralateral and Contramedial movement tasks elicited significantly greater shoulder and torso movement compared to Ipsilateral or Ipsimedial tasks. Additionally, torso focused levels including cross-body tasks increased overall movement compared to other level designs. Findings support that the use of custom therapeutic tasks and levels is an effective tool for engaging rehabilitation for people who have experienced an SCI.

Keywords

Biomechanics, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Comments

OCLC No. 1591829963

Rights Statement

Copyright 2026, author.

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