Bespoke video games to provide early response markers to identify the optimal strategies for maximizing rehabilitation

Abstract

Stroke commonly leads to partial or complete paralysis of one side of the body and there is limited availability of therapists to provide rehabilitation. It is a priority therefore to identify the most effective rehabilitation strategies and/or pharmacotherapies. Motor learning, the essential process underpinning rehabilitation, can be assessed more quickly and robustly than outcomes from rehabilitation. In this paper we describe a proof of concept system that utilises a bespoke video game to measure the critical components of motor learning. We demonstrate that it is sensitive enough to detect how simple changes in therapist instruction significantly change motor performance and learning. Although video games have been shown to aid in rehabilitation, this is the first time video games have been used to derive early response markers, based on the measurement of performance and motor learning, for use in the evaluation of the efficacy of a rehabilitation strategy.