Quantitative evaluation of the recovery stages from hemiplegia using a game controller

It is difficult for patients and their families to evaluate the stage of recovery from hemiplegia caused by a stroke because expert knowledge is necessary to evaluate them. However, if patients and their families without expert knowledge can ascertain how and to what degree they are recovering, it would facilitate the setting of a goal of rehabilitation into society and produce a voluntary training scheme. Therefore, we developed an inexpensive, portable, and maneuverable rehabilitation system using a personal computer and an oversized game controller, which is easy for a paralyzed person to operate. Applying the button-press game, which is the easiest game among those offered with the system, to healthy adults, elderly people without paralysis, and patients with hemiplegia, we measured reaction time and obtained other data. Results show significant differences between the healthy adults and the elderly people without paralysis, and between the healthy adults and the patients with hemiplegia, which suggests that we can evaluate how much a patient is recovering from hemiplegia quantitatively by comparing the reaction times used for maneuvering the system among healthy adults, elderly people, and patients with hemiplegia.