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Augmented Feedback System to Support Physical Therapy of Non-specific Low Back Pain

  • Conference paper
Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2009)

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.

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Brodbeck, D. et al. (2010). Augmented Feedback System to Support Physical Therapy of Non-specific Low Back Pain. In: Fred, A., Filipe, J., Gamboa, H. (eds) Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies. BIOSTEC 2009. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 52. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11721-3_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11721-3_30

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11720-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11721-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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