Elements VR system for children’s rehabilitation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Innovations in virtual-reality based rehabilitation of movement: Evaluation of interactive, table-top systems for childhood movement disorders
IRAS ID
174551
Contact name
Dido Green
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Brookes University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Children with movement difficulties such as Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Coordination Disorder report that traditional therapies are highly repetitive and laborious. This influences enjoyment and participation in regular therapy programmes and may result in reduced adherence to therapy or exercise regimes, limiting effectiveness.
This study will build on our previous work to explore the potential of an updated rehab system (the ELEMENTS) which uses Virtual−Reality (VR) technologies, in paediatric rehabilitation. The initial ELEMENTS system, showed promise as a relatively low-cost solution to support therapies for upper-limb function and activity participation for children with movement difficulties, however problems occurred when translating this to different clinical settings with different lighting and humidity levels. We have updated the system and included new activities to engage children/patients in a variety of goal-directed tasks, augmented feedback, and engaging exploratory environments. We therefore wish to evaluate the efficacy of the upgraded ELEMENTS VR system for rehabilitation of children with movement difficulties and compare the mechanisms of movement control that may provide insights into why and how children may make progress and thus also examine functional and brain based responses to intervention using the ELEMENTS system. We also wish to obtain the perceptions of children in the usability and engagement of the system. We aim to achieve this through undertaking comprehensive (non-invasive) assessments before and after an intensive treatment programme involving 16, 45 minute sessions over 4 weeks.
The Elements is a potentially quite powerful rehabilitation solution for children, however, larger experimental trials are indicated to test the capacity of this novel VR system to progress the functional skills of children and young people with disabilities. This study aims to contribute to larger studies through utilisation of multiple sites in the UK, Netherlands and Australia and merging of anonymous data sets.REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SW/0192
Date of REC Opinion
21 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion