Backtrainer. Computer-aided therapy system with augmented feedback for the lower back

Type
04B - Conference paper
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics BIOSTEC
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
Issue / Number
Pages / Duration
66-73
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
SciTePress
Place of publication / Event location
Porto
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Low back pain is an important problem in industrialized countries. Two key factors limit the effectiveness of physiotherapy: low compliance of patients with repetitive movement exercises, and inadequate awareness of patients of their own posture. The Backtrainer system addresses these problems by real-time monitoring of the spine position, by providing a framework for most common physiotherapy exercises for the low back, and by providing feedback to patients in a motivating way. A minimal sensor configuration was identified as two inertial sensors that measure the orientation of the lower back at two points with three degrees of freedom. The software was designed as a flexible platform to experiment with different hardware, and with various feedback modalities. Basic exercises for two types of movements are provided: mobilizing and stabilizing. We developed visual feedback - abstract as well as in the form of a virtual reality game - and complemented the on-screen graphics with an ambient feedback device. The system was evaluated during five weeks in a rehabilitation clinic with 26 patients and 15 physiotherapists. Subjective satisfaction of subjects was good, and we interpret the results as encouraging indication for the adoption of such a therapy support system by both patients and therapists.
Keywords
Back pain, Physiotherapy, Computer-aided therapy, Augmented feedback, Ambient visualization
Project
Event
HEALTHINF 2009 International Conference on Health Informatics
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
14.01.2009
Conference end date
17.01.2009
Date of the last check
ISBN
978-989-8111-63-0
ISSN
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Green
License
'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/'
Citation
Brodbeck, D., Degen, M., Stanimirov, M., Kool, J., Scheermesser, M., Oesch, P., & Neuhaus, C. (2009). Backtrainer. Computer-aided therapy system with augmented feedback for the lower back. In L. Azevedo & A. Londral (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics BIOSTEC (pp. 66–73). SciTePress. https://doi.org/10.5220/0001550400660073