Virtual Reality and Stroke: Building Novel Assessments for Upper-Limb and Hand Function Following Impairment

Background:
Stroke patients often suffer long-term impairments to the movement function in their upper limb.
For patients to receive the best treatment for these impairments, rehabilitation plans must be
informed by objective, quantitative assessments. However, current clinical assessments of upper
limb function following Stroke can be insensitive to small changes in function and limited by
ceiling effects.
Motion capture and virtual reality (VR) can offer safe and motivating environments for patients to
explore, while gathering detailed and quantitative data about patients upper-limb movement
function. However, there are few programmes which provide detailed and objective assessment of
multi-joint and hand function, particularly with reference to the completion of daily tasks.
This research aims to develop novel assessment tools for Stroke patients suffering upper limb
impairments; overcoming limitations seen in current assessments.
Research Questions:
This research investigates whether the development of bespoke, technology-based assessment
methods can be used to overcome limitations of current clinical assessment methods and provide
real benefit to patients. There are two key questions we are interested in answering:
1. Can we use VR and motion capture to develop clinically relevant and feasible quantitative
assessment techniques?
2. Will these assessment techniques inform the development of more effective rehabilitation
schemes, which result in better patient outcomes following treatment and reassessment?
Methodology:
The student will work to develop a range of Virtual Reality applications to be used for
clinical assessment of upper-limb function. The student will be using off-the-shelf equipment
such as Oculus Rift Virtual Reality and the Obi-Reach motion capture glove to collect their data.
There will be opportunities for the student to travel; working alongside researchers at the University
of Birmingham and clinics, GPs and hospitals in the Southwest. The student will work with clinics,
patients and academics to build and test their applications, incorporating feedback from these
groups into future developments.