The TELEDFO project aims to provide a system for the physical and cognitive rehabilitation of stroke sufferers in a way that is entertaining, low-cost and clinically significant. Using a capture system based on a depth camera and a system of computer applications, the user can perform a series of exercises guided by an avatar, and play a series of games involving limb movements. The user only needs a conventional computer and the low-cost capture system, which means that it can be used by anyone regardless of their purchasing power.
The positions of the joints as well as joint angles and dynamic analysis data are exported to a remote database. In this way, the physiotherapist can follow the patient's progress remotely and recommend changes to their exercises.
A multidisciplinary team leads the project, which arose out of a collaboration of the Multimedia Applications Laboratory of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), and the Functional Diversity Association of Osona (ADFO). The team itself consists of industrial engineers, multimedia engineers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and clinical experts in neurorehabilitation.
A feasibility trial has been conducted with ADFO users, and the project aims to scale up the product in order to conduct a clinical trial with a sufficiently large sample of patients and validate the efficacy of tele-rehabilitation.