Mumford Nick, Duckworth Jonathan, Thomas Patrick R, Shum David, Williams Gavin, Wilson Peter H
Discipline of Psychology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
Brain Inj. 2012;26(2):166-76. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2011.648706.
The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the Elements virtual reality (VR) system for rehabilitation of upper-limb function in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Using a within-group design, patients were tested three times, each 4 weeks apart: Pre-intervention 1 and 2 and Post-intervention. During intervention, participants received 12 1-hour training sessions over 4 weeks in addition to their usual care. Five males and four females aged 18-48 years with severe TBI were recruited. The Elements system consisted of a 100-cm tabletop LCD, camera tracking system, tangible user interfaces (i.e. graspable objects of basic shape) and software. The system provided two modes of interaction with augmented feedback: goal-directed and exploratory. Upper-limb performance was assessed using system-rated measures (movement speed, accuracy and efficiency) and standardized tests.
Planned comparisons revealed little change in performance over the pre-test period apart from an increase in movement speed. There were significant training effects, with large effect sizes on all measures except the nuts-and-bolts task.
These preliminary findings support the results of an early case study of the Elements system, further demonstrating that VR training is a viable adjunct to conventional physical therapy in facilitating motor learning in patients with TBI.
本研究旨在评估Elements虚拟现实（VR）系统对创伤性脑损伤（TBI）患者上肢功能康复的疗效。
采用组内设计，对患者进行三次测试，每次间隔4周：干预前1和2以及干预后。在干预期间，参与者除了接受常规护理外，还在4周内接受了12次每次1小时的训练课程。招募了5名男性和4名年龄在18 - 48岁的重度TBI女性患者。Elements系统由一个100厘米的桌面液晶显示器、摄像头跟踪系统、有形用户界面（即基本形状的可抓握物体）和软件组成。该系统提供了两种带有增强反馈的交互模式：目标导向和探索性。使用系统评定的指标（运动速度、准确性和效率）和标准化测试来评估上肢表现。
计划比较显示，除运动速度增加外，测试前期的表现变化不大。存在显著的训练效果，除螺母和螺栓任务外，所有指标的效应量都很大。
这些初步研究结果支持了早期关于Elements系统的案例研究结果，进一步证明了VR训练是促进TBI患者运动学习的传统物理治疗的可行辅助手段。
