Remote monitoring and rehabilitation for patients with neurological diseases

In this paper we present an upper-limb tele-rehabilitation solution suitable for patients suffering motor impairments due to neurological diseases (e.g. Parkinson’s disease). The solution is based on patient subsystems connected to a clinician subsystem through a secure cloud platform. The patient subsystem is built around a novel Human Computer Interface (HCI) based on RGBDepth camera (e.g. Kinect©), a monitor and soft gloves with color markers. Important features of the HCI are the accuracy of realtime and fine-grained three-dimensional (3D) tracking of hands and fingers, low cost, suitability for motor impaired patients and large working volume. The patient subsystem software implements both standard UPDRS motor tests and exergames, providing automatic evaluations of patients’ performances about motor and cognitive functions. The clinician subsystem interface enables at any time the neurologists and the therapists to access data about their patients, evaluate their condition and get in touch with them if needed. Data produced by the patient-side subsystem during the rehabilitation sessions are stored in the data archiving sub-system on the cloud and can be reviewed by clinicians through the clinician subsystem.