Videogame implementation for rehabilitation in patients with Parkinson disease

Abstract

The present paper is focused on the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson Disease (PD), using video games that respond to the movements of the player. It is important, to begin reviewing the state of the art, to delimit the characteristics of the system. Subsequently, the system was designed and implemented for use with software Unity and Arduino. Finally, the validation tests of the system were performed with patients of the PD and healthy patients. First, a review of the theoretical framework of Parkinson’s disease, rehabilitation, and videogames present today is carried out, analyzing advantages and disadvantages of the different systems existing in the market. Then, the characteristics that the game must fulfill are defined, such as the transmission technologies, methodologies to be implemented, equipment and software that will be used for the design. Next, the videogame design is done using the Unity software, the same one that allows to export it to the Android platform. The system consists in acquiring patient data using a Bluetooth module and an accelerometer, whose data results from the game are sent wirelessly to the mobile device, for the project were used a smartphone. The “Rehabilitation” application contained PlaneGame with three levels and BallGame with two levels of participation. Finally, the validation of the system and analysis of results were executed, where the tests are carried out at the “Adulto Mayor” (elderly) University. In conclusion, the results at the end of the rehabilitation sessions showed that the developed system improves the motor movements of the upper extremities, which favors raising the life quality of patients.