Herramienta para la rehabilitación vestibular interactiva mediante realidad virtual

Abstract

Vestibular disorders are problems that affect balance, spatial orientation, generate vertigo and visual problems. What forms the vestibular system are parts of the inner ear and also of the brain, when there is an injury to the vestibular system there is a general imbalance, which causes a sensation of dizziness, instability and imbalance, symptoms that can become incapacitating for the person who suffers from it. For this it is necessary to start with vestibular rehabilitation therapies (VRT). Rehabilitation is a therapy based on vestibular compensation, which is achieved by performing repetitive motor-type exercises. The absence of timely and personalized therapies means that the recovery of patients with these conditions is late and ineffective, due to the well-known health emergency caused by the pandemic derived from the Coronavirus (COVID-19), access to therapeutic health service is strongly affected. Consequently, a tool for interactive vestibular rehabilitation was developed under the research and innovation modality in conjunction with the DIGITI research group and in collaboration with the company Servicios y Equipos Biomédicos (S&E), this tool is composed of a VR viewer ( virtual reality) and open source development software, in which VR scenarios were designed and implemented, obtaining a first-person interface, where the movement of the VR viewer was associated with the movement of a user's head in space virtual. This tool has virtual reality scenarios where the patient will perform different activities and exercises with different levels of difficulty (low, medium and high) focused on exercise techniques and programs designed to improve the symptoms of ataxia, blurred vision and loss of balance caused by for vestibular problems. In these scenarios, the patient's movements are associated with virtual environments, replicating her actions. Different types of functional tests were carried out with the support of specialists from the "National Institute of Otology" where the design recommendations and physical-motor limitations were followed, which allowed patients to perform the planned exercises both standing and sitting, in addition to From this, virtual reality environments are adjusted to the space limitations of the office, allowing unrestricted mobility but following the physical limitations of the available space.