Evidence shows that rehabilitation after a stroke requires up to six hours of daily training, and patients may find it difficult to maintain motivation for such a long time every day. Therefore, such training should be available in a clinical setting as well as in/outside the patient's home.

To this end, Patient@home has launched a new project that focuses on improving and accelerating the rehabilitation process of persons with paralysis and visual neglect as a result of strokes. The project will use media technology and serious games, the latter being games that have a specific purpose other than that of entertainment.

Vision

The vision of the project is to move the rehabilitation process into the home of the patient in order to avoid readmissions. Also, the hospital shall be able to monitor the training activity as well as the progress achieved, and to create data for future rehabilitation cooperation activities.

Project Plan

The project consists of three phases:

Phase 1: Preliminary study (1 February - 31 July 2014)

The first field of this phase concerns the use of force feedback and serious games to retrain the muscles and the mobility of the patient's arm. The second field relates to the use of a tablet and serious games for the rehabilitation of visual neglect, which is reduced awareness of one side of the patient's body and the space around it.

Phase 2: Selection of 1-2 specific games (1 August - 31 august 2014)

The prototypes produced in phase 1 are expected to have some shortcomings. Consequently, further developments will be carried out in this phase based on the feedback obtained from tests performed by Brønderslev Neurorehabilitation Centre, BNC.

The work will be supervised by Aalborg University (AAU) and BNC. Concludingly, it will be decided which ideas to pursue.

Phase 3: Development, testing and commercialisation of product(s) (1 September 2014 - 31 August 2016)

This phase will, on the basis of the decisions taken in Phase 2, concentrate on the following issues:

• Literature study
• Case study
• Development
• Clinical testing
• Prototype
• Commercialisation

Expected results

Through a series of systematic studies the project expects to achieve the following results:

• Development of serious game for use in rehabilitation
• Development of a platform for collection of monitoring data from rehabilitation exercises.

Overall expectations are that the project will create greater efficiency within the health sector.