MIDAS: Multi-sensorial Immersive Dynamic Autonomous System Improves Motivation of Stroke Affected Patients for Hand Rehabilitation

Majority of stroke survivors are left with poorly functioning paretic hands. Current rehabilitation devices have failed to motivate the patients enough to continue rehabilitation exercises. The objective of this project, MIDAS (Multi-sensorial Immersive Dynamic Autonomous System) is a proof of concept by using an immersive system to improve motivation of stroke patients for hand rehabilitation. MIDAS is intended for stroke patients who suffer from light to mild stroke. MIDAS is lightweight and portable. It consists of a hand exoskeleton subsystem, a Virtual Reality (VR) subsystem, and an olfactory subsystem. Altogether, MIDAS engages four out of five senses during rehabilitation. To evaluate the efficacy of MIDAS a pilot study consisting of three sessions is carried out on five stroke affected patients. Subsystems of MIDAS are added progressively in each session. The game environment, sonic effects, and scent released is carefully chosen to enhance the immersive experience. 60% of the scores of user experience are above 40 (out of 56). 96% Self Rehabilitation Motivation Scale (SRMS) rating shows that the participants are motivated to use MIDAS and 87% rating shows that MIDAS is exciting for rehabilitation. Participants experienced elevated motivation to continue stroke rehabilitation using MIDAS and no undesired side effects were reported.