Virtual therapy for people with reduced mobility in the hands

Virtual therapy for people with reduced mobility in the hands

Israeli researchers focus their research on 3D virtual reality to improve patient rehabilitation

  Researchers at the University of Tel-Aviv (Israel) have discovered a therapy with 3D virtual reality glasses to help people with reduced mobility in their hands, according to the magazine "Cell Press".

Israeli scientists observed that participants used their left hand better after an exercise in which they moved the fingers of their right hand while viewing their left hand with virtual reality glasses.

"We are cheating the brain, this experiment turned out to be a good demonstration of how to combine software engineering and neuroscience," said the study's lead author, Roy Mukamel.

To carry out the investigation, the motor ability of each of the 53 participants' hands was first determined.

In the first experiment, patients made movements with their right hand while the screen showed the left hand moving.

Afterwards, they put a motorized glove on their left hand, which moved their fingers emulating the activity of the right hand, while on the virtual screen they continued to show images of the left hand moving instead of the right.

After analyzing the results, the researchers discovered that the mobility of the left hand improved significantly when the left hand was visible on the screen.

The best results were obtained when, in addition to seeing the left hand, the right hand moved thanks to the motorized glove.

"Technologically these experiments are a great challenge, we manipulate what people see and combine it with the passive movement of the hand to show that our hands can learn when they are not moving under voluntary control," Mukamel explained.

The scientist and his team are optimistic that this discovery can be applied to patients who are in physical therapy programs after losing strength or control of their hands.