Article: EKinect Evolved - Stroke Recovery With Microsoft's Motion Sensor

18 October 2012 Chris Lo

Could Microsoft's Kinect drive a revolution in home-based stroke recovery through the use of affordable motion tracking? Chris Lo speaks to researchers at Southampton University and Roke Manor Research, who are aiming to bring virtual stroke rehabilitation into the patient's living room.

Microsoft's Kinect device is the latest step in the march of motion tracking technology from the lab into the living room. The device, which is based on 3D sensing technology developed by Israeli tech company PrimeSense, allows Xbox gamers to play without any controller input; the Kinect's camera and 3D depth sensors pick up on the player's motion, meaning that punches, kicks and other movements interact with in-game action.

While casual gamers have been enjoying flailing their arms and legs around since the Kinect's initial launch in November 2010 (to the tune of 19 million units sold as of June 2012), the introduction of affordable motion sensing technology into the household is important in areas other than gaming.

Clinical Potential of Motion Tracking

"What we wanted to do was teach the Kinect about hands, so that we could start to extend rehabilitation beyond the arm."

One such field is physiotherapy and physical rehabilitation, where motion tracking has proved useful for measuring physical movement throughout the recovery process, but has mostly been confined to clinics and laboratories, limiting its availability to the majority of patients.

Sara Demain, physiotherapist and lecturer at Southampton University, was one of a team of clinical and computer science experts at the university who was keeping a keen eye on the launch of Kinect.

"We'd seen that people had adopted the [Nintendo] Wii into rehabilitation, and we knew that the Kinect was coming online," Demain says. "Even before it was sold, we were already planning what we might be able to do to develop it for rehab."

A multidisciplinary team of Southampton clinicians, engineers and computer scientists was set up with a goal of adapting the Kinect as a home-based rehabilitation tool for the thousands of people working to recover hand function after a stroke. The team has found local support in the form of R&D company Roke Manor Research, and is being led by Dr Cheryl Metcalf, building on her recent development of Piano HAWK (Hand and Wrist Kinematics), a motion sensor designed to analyse the hand and wrist movements of pianists.

Adapting Kinect for Stroke Patients

Despite getting Microsoft's blessing for the project, the team quickly realised that the device wouldn't be suitable for stroke patients without extensive modification. "It wasn't until we actually got one and used it that we realised that it was able to map the body and the arm, but it didn't know anything about hands, other than a blob at the end of the arm," says Demain.

"What we wanted to do in this project was to teach the Kinect about hands, so that... ===>

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