Notes

Medical Gaming Treating Life-changing Injuries

Medical gaming treating life-changing injuries By Franchesca Hashemi BBC Click



11 June



Computer games are utilized by rehabilitation centers across the world to aid patients with serious injuries or illnesses.



Ruby Flanagan, a nurse from the Wirral, lost her leg at 24 after being hit by a car in August 2021.
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She is now receiving therapies that are based on computer games as part of her rehabilitation. she hopes will mean she can one day be able lift her son off the floor.



Ruby was injured while shopping with her five-month-old son, Leon.



While she was able to keep her son out of danger, Ruby was not so fortunate.



Her right leg had to be amputated, her left leg needed extensive reconstruction, and her pelvis was shattered by the force of the crash.



Ruby said that the first few weeks in hospital were "a blur" to BBC Click.



"I don't remember waking up. I don't remember who told me that my leg was amputated. I was hoping I could learn to walk again. I'll get an imitation leg, a prosthetic leg and that's the case.



"I did not realize how difficult it would be."



Ruby is currently receiving conventional treatments at Steps which is a Sheffield rehabilitation clinic. This includes hydrotherapy and physiotherapy as well as MindPod sessions.



MindPod allows Ruby and other patients suffering from similar conditions to control an animated dolphin to help their bodies recover strength, balance and coordination.



She laughs: "When I first came here to Steps, I didn't imagine that the rigorous rehab would be a game."



The MindPod's tranquil ambience and ambient lighting are helping her to move her body with ease, she says.



She says that MindPod "[isaiding coordination, balance and core stability."



"It reflects on things like if I were in the kitchen, reaching for things up in the cupboards or down below."



Ruby is making amazing progress because of her dedication to her work, and the help from the staff at the clinic.



"A lot of our clients have feedback that they feel they've been working in the MindPod but they also feel comfortable leaving the MindPod," says Lucy Moore, Head of Therapies at Steps.



The therapy based on video games has been developed by Dr Omar Ahmad and Dr John Krakauer, of the Kata studio at Johns Hopkins University in the US.



It makes use of motion-sensors and cameras to track patients' movements as they direct a playful dolphin called Bandit across the screen.



Bandit was invented by Dr Ahmad, but it isn't animation in the traditional sense.



"All the movement in the game is generated in real time," he explains. The player eventually "becomes the dolphin by mastering its motor-dynamics, and then expressing motion within the space of the animal".



Dr Krakauer is his co-worker in neurology and neuroscience, described the new method as the term "digital therapy" which means that a doctor could prescribe software "as tablet".



"It creates a feedback loop of learning and allows exploration in the way a child learns to move their arms early in infanthood," he says.



Many of the digital therapies available are being put to the test at Strathclyde University.



Dr Andrew Kerr runs its community-focused Sir Jules Thorn Centre for Co-creation of Rehabilitation Technology, which offers people who've suffered a stroke the chance to develop and test robotic and gaming-type equipment for their injuries.



"Ultimately the thing we are trying to achieve is create technology that is not only for those who have the money to buy it, but that they are able to use it in their local leisure centres or at home," he explains.



The purpose of the center is to make rehabilitation technology more widely accessible.



One example is the university's 3D motion capture system, where sensors and cameras are placed all over the place to monitor the movement of patients.



Maisie Keogh is a PhD student at the university of biomedical Engineering. She collaborates with stroke survivors to create personalised rehabilitation programs, guided by a computer to ensure they get the most out of their therapy.



Like many groundbreaking technologies, it could be months or years before they are widely accessible in the community.



For the mother of two Ruby, whose dedication to her work has already led to impressive progress, there's one particular skill she's working on mastering.



"My long-term aim is to be capable of picking up the baby and carry him up and down the stairs," she says.



BBC Click has the latest episode about MindPod and digital therapies.



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