ViLimbs: Improving Phantom Limb Treatment Through Multisensory Feedback

PubDate: April 2015

Teams: Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Writers: Esteban Correa-Agudelo；Andres M. Hernandez；Carlos Ferrin；Juan D. Gomez

PDF: ViLimbs: Improving Phantom Limb Treatment Through Multisensory Feedback

Abstract

Each year, anti-personnel mines contribute to a vast number of amputated victims due to the current conflict in Colombia. The recovery of such victims, includes psycho-motor therapies to reduce neuromuscular aftermaths, such as phantom limb pain (PLP). Therefore, improving rehabilitation strategies can potentially have a large positive impact in the recovery outcomes for long-term treatments. ViLimbs is a Virtual-Reality-based (VR) system aimed at enhancing classical mirror therapy for amputees using an immersive video-wall that renders the patient himself with a superimposed virtual limb. The patient-virtual-limb interaction is achieved by means of brain computer interfaces (BCI) and myoelectric signals read from the remaining part of the limb. Thus, voluntary movements get naturally transferred from patients to virtual limbs. Last but not least, patients sense of ownership over an alien virtual limb is enhanced through multisensory feedback (cardio-visual), which tends to lessen rehabilitation times.