Development of rehabilitation support system for lower limbs for recovery and quantitative evaluation of proprioception

Proprioception should be necessary for the trunk balance and skillful movement. However, proprioception deteriorates due to aging and spinal cord injury. Training for the recovery of proprioception is required because of the ADL and prevention of overturning. We have developed a new rehabilitation support system for “sensory training”. The purpose of this study is to perform clinical trials with 2 patients by using our system and discuss the results of clinical trials by analyzing the experimental data. In our system, video games are prepared as test programs for the proposed system. The measurements are performed one time before the operation and once or more until subjects are discharged from the hospital after the operation. In experiments, as the comparison studies, conventional quantitative evaluation tests, namely gravicorder test and 10 meter walking test are performed. As a result, this system plays a role of helping the patient with deteriorated proprioception to control lower limb as useful training tool based on the vision information feedback.