A novel virtual reality device for balance and sensorimotor assessment and rehabilitation: Custom-designed software and commercial hardware integration for biomedical applications – Geoffrey Wright

Speaker

Geoffrey Wright

Professor

College of Public Health
Temple University

Abstract

This novel application of virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) technology has been designed as a balance assessment device that establishes a method of assessing fall-risk by using a series of automated postural tests with different levels of somatosensory, visual, and visual-vestibular reliability. Our other automated VR-based tools for assessment of vestibular and oculomotor function further establish the sensorimotor integrity of these balance-related processes. We have established construct and criterion-measure validity against the research-grade laboratory measurement devices, such as motion capture cameras and force-plates and the gold-standard in clinical posturography (Neurocom), and to commonly used clinical assessments, such as the Berg Balance Test, Tinetti test, TUG, VOMS, vHIT, and DVAT. The construct validity of our assessment approach has been validated in various populations such as veterans, concussion, vestibular issues, PTSD, veterans, and older adults with fall risk. Accurate and expedient diagnosis significantly increases a clinician’s ability to plan the most effective treatment plan. Following assessment, providing custom-designed rehabilitation tools that are gamified, progressive, automated, and specifically targeted to identified deficits, a patient’s treatment can be motivating, quantified and recorded, and more effective. In summary, by creating portable, easy-to-use, accessible tools, such solutions can be incorporated into the clinical care pipeline even in remote, austere, or underserved communities and facilities.