ES2397031B1 - VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM FOR THE EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF MOTOR DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND AGE. - Google Patents

Abstract

Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age comprising a patient module, in turn comprising glasses (1) that capture the movement of the patient's head provided with a display device for displaying a virtual situation, reflective markers (2), infrared cameras (3) that capture the situation of reflective markers (2), a communication module (4) that receives the information captured by the glasses (1) and infrared cameras (3) sending it to a processing means (5), the processing means (5) that generate the virtual situation scenario; and an expert module, comprising management means (6) that control a plurality of variables that modify and evaluate the scenario of the virtual situation to which the patient is subjected.

Description

Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention belongs to the technical field of information and communication technologies for the development of systems for the treatment and evaluation of patients.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, the advancement of technology has allowed the incorporation of new diagnostic and treatment tools that facilitate the therapeutic intervention of certain pathologies. The use of virtual systems in the treatment of phobias or other mental disorders has been successful, and although the lack of controlled studies prevents confirming their effect, their integration into the therapeutic programs of sensory and motor pathologies is considered feasible. Theoretically, the virtual environment offers the main advantage of controlling and modifying stimuli and actions of the user being this very difficult in a real environment in which the variability of the stimuli is not measurable and the execution of a task by the patient is limited by your disability

The therapeutic effects depend largely on the immersion system used and, although there are attempts to design standard systems to unify the results, such standardization has not yet been achieved for various reasons: the best virtual systems are not accessible due to their high cost , in some devices there are still adverse effects (such as nausea caused by the delay of virtual movement), and the minimum immersion sufficient to obtain results has not yet been established (a correlation between the effects and the level of presence in the virtual environment).

It was therefore necessary a system to evaluate motor disorders, standardizing the virtual reality therapeutic protocols, and study them in a controlled way to consistently contrast the possible therapeutic effects.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to develop a virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age. Through the proposed system, the objective described is obtained and improvements are achieved with respect to known systems such as portability, low cost and flexibility in the creation of different virtual environments with specific applications for the evaluation and treatment of movement problems of the upper, lower limbs, gait and balance. Likewise, the system is able to integrate records of biological parameters of patients obtained by other peripheral devices.

The system comprises two modules, a patient module and an expert module, which allow recreating virtual environments to evaluate and treat the patient, through functional re-education, on motor control alterations that occur in patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Parkinson) and the elderly, such as alterations in the movements of the upper limbs, alterations in balance and gait, and fall problems.

The expert module comprises management means through which the parameters of the virtual environment in which the patient is immersed are controlled. From the same, the expert can control and configure the evaluation protocols of the different motor alterations and the therapeutic programs for each one of said motor alterations.

The patient module comprises glasses, at least provided with a triaxial accelerometer that captures the movement of the patient's head, reflective, passive or active markers, located in anatomical positions, preferably hands and legs, a plurality of infrared cameras, preferably three for the detection and virtual recreation of the movements of the upper limbs and two for the lower limbs. These cameras capture the position of the reflective markers. In the case of the movements of the upper limbs, the zenith chamber is responsible for capturing the movements of both arms in the horizontal plane; A chamber to the left of the patient captures the movements of the right limb in the sagittal plane, and similarly the chamber located to the right of the patient, those of the left limb. In the case of gait, the cameras located laterally to the patient capture the movements in the sagittal plane of each of the legs. The information collected by the cameras and glasses is received by a communication module that sends said information to processing means configured to recreate a virtual environment.

The glasses are very light and incorporate accelerometers that capture and record the movements of the patient's head. Likewise, the glasses comprise a display device for each eye where the virtual image that is generated by the means of processing the system is integrated integrating the information of the

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manual and gait movements that constitute the patient module. The information received by each eye is slightly different, so stereoscopic vision is produced allowing three-dimensional vision. When capturing the movement of the head, the virtual image changes depending on where the patient directs the head. The glasses isolate the light from the real environment and promote the immersion of the patient in the virtual environment.

Preferably, infrared cameras will have a sampling frequency of 1/200 (0.2KHz), which is essential for real-world events to occur at the same time as virtual ones. The sampling frequency of the cameras allows to obtain in real time a virtual situation modeled by the processing means from their interaction with the captured movements of the real world.

The processing means manage the information captured by the infrared cameras converting the three-dimensional information of the real physical space to the virtual space of a 3D application to generate a certain configurable virtual environment according to the needs. They allow to unify the information captured by the cameras and process it in real time, as well as to integrate and synchronize the information captured with the simultaneous registration of biological parameters of patients obtained by other peripheral devices, such as muscle activity (by electromyography), brain activity (by electroencephalography), etc., by emitting pulses type TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic).

The virtual space of a 3D application is generated from a graphic engine that, upon receiving the information captured by the infrared cameras, generates a certain situation in a configurable virtual environment.

The image is modeled using the following techniques:

•

Interposition. The interposition of objects allows to generate stimuli and environments with depth.

•

Shades. Object shadows and avatar segments contribute to the perspective of providing information about the orientation of the elements.

•

Size. The same object or member of the avatar in the visual field allows to generate the perception of movement by progressively changing its size.

•

The perspective. The edges of the walls or the lines of the table provide information on the depth of field and the distances between the surrounding objects.

•

The texture of the surfaces. The different textures of the surfaces allow an optimal differentiation of the objects.

Once the image is modeled, an image that is perceived in three dimensions is achieved with the stereoscopy of the glasses.

In the same way as the sampling frequency of the cameras, the temporal resolution, the number of images that appear per second, it is very important to avoid the delay of the real movement in the virtual image. The system preferably has a temporal resolution of 150 images per second, which, given that the frequency of the virtual image necessary for the human eye to perceive a movement as a fluid is between 20 and 50 images / second, approximately and Depending on the brightness of the image, the system allows motion capture and reproduction in the virtual environment to be perceived by the patient continuously and synchronously with the movements performed.

Additionally, the processing means allow to recreate a virtual environment different from that in which the patient is. In this way, the patient experiences different experiences or environments, such as, the capture of an object, forcing the patient to make movements with the hands, sequences of movements of the fingers with a certain amplitude and frequency, the march through a corridor with obstacles or gait on a treadmill, forcing the patient to make movements with the legs. The processing means also allow in these cases of virtual recreations, to configure in real time, the environment and the movement parameters, for example, the virtual movement.

The communication module allows the communication of the patient with the processing means and the synchronization of the virtual reality system with external peripheral devices (recording or stimulation), so that through analog and digital inputs additional information on the execution of the patient can be sent patient acquired by any conventional recording device. In this way, the communication module allows the communication of the processing means with any element compatible with pulses type TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), so that when the processing means are already communicated with the information in the generated virtual environment , synchronization between the virtual environment and any element compatible with TTL pulses is possible with perfect synchrony. This is achieved because the communication module emits TTL-type pulses at predetermined times, and configurable depending on the virtual environment, which can be sent to any other peripheral device that records the biological parameters of the patients (electromyography, electroencephalography, etc.).

Finally, the virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, includes:

•

a patient module, in turn comprising:

or glasses comprising at least one triaxial accelerometer that captures the movement of the patient's head and a display device for each eye through which the patient visualizes a virtual situation;

or a plurality of reflective markers located in anatomical positions that allow the system to know the position that the patient adopts at all times;

or a plurality of infrared cameras that capture the situation of the reflective markers;

or a communication module that receives the information captured by the glasses and the infrared cameras and sends it to a processing means;

or the means of processing that generate the scenario of a virtual situation from the information received from the communication module;

•

 an expert module, in turn comprising:

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or a means of management that control a plurality of variables that modify and evaluate the scenario of the virtual situation to which the patient is subjected.

Preferably, the expert module comprises a display module that shows the virtual situation shown to the patient through the display devices.

Preferably, the plurality of variables that control the management means comprises the parameters and the protocols for evaluating the different motor alterations and the therapeutic programs for each of said motor alterations.

Preferably, the infrared cameras have a sampling frequency of 0.2KHz. And preferably, infrared cameras capture images at a temporal resolution of 150 images per second.

Preferably, the communication module is configured to synchronize the system by emitting temporarily configurable pulses with biological signals of analog and digital nature captured by external peripheral devices that record the patient's activity. In this case, the processing means may be configured to integrate and synchronize the biological signals captured by the communication module.

Preferably, the processing means comprise a graphic engine that generates a virtual situation from the information received from the communication module.

Preferably, the plurality of infrared cameras is formed by three cameras for the detection of the reflective markers located in the upper limbs of the patient and two cameras for the detection of the reflective markers located in the lower limbs of the patient. The three cameras for the detection of reflective markers located in the upper limbs of the patient may comprise an overhead camera configured to capture the movements of the upper limbs of the patient in the horizontal plane, a camera located to the left of the patient configured to capture the movements of the patient's right limb in the sagittal plane, and a camera to the right of the patient configured to capture the movements of the patient's left limb in the sagittal plane. The two cameras for the detection of the reflective markers located in the lower limbs of the patient can be located laterally to the patient and are configured to capture the movements in the sagittal plane of each of the lower limbs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A series of drawings that help to better understand the invention and that expressly relate to an embodiment of said invention which is presented as a non-limiting example thereof is described very briefly below.

Figure 1 shows schematically the elements included in the invention.

Figure 2 shows the arrangement of infrared cameras for capturing the movements of the upper limb and virtual recreation of related experiences.

Figure 3 shows the location of the markers for hand capture.

Figure 4a shows the location of the markers for the capture of the leg.

Figure 4b shows the virtual recreation of the march of an experimental subject: lateral vision for the researcher and the corridor through which the experimental subject walks.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

Figure 1 shows a general scheme of the invention that encompasses the two possibilities it offers, evaluation and treatment, and that could operate as independent modules:

-

An evaluation module: the system can capture the patient's movements and monitor them. In this way, all types of patient execution can be characterized and analyzed; for example: the amplitudes of the movements, the time that reaction to certain stimuli or the modifications of the march pattern when approaching a door.

-

A treatment module: the system allows generating avatar movements under specific characteristics configured by the expert, so that the movements made by the avatar can be presented without any pathological deficiency, so that the patient imitates the movement made by the avatar for, through training, rehabilitate his motor actions; for example, wider manual movements, or a faster reaction to the presence of a stimulus generated in the virtual environment.

The evaluation of the characteristics and possible alterations of the motor acts, requires an expert module that, by means of management means, controls certain parameters of the virtual environment in which the patient is immersed. In the evaluation, the system also allows incorporating, simultaneously with the presentations of the virtual environments, biological parameters of the patients obtained by other peripheral devices, such as muscular activity (by electromyography), brain activity (by electroencephalography), etc.

The treatment is done by presenting different virtual environments. Mainly it is done in two situations: seated patient, where virtual environments will be generated for evaluation and subsequent treatment or functional reeducation of the upper limb, usually by means of targets that the patient has to reach by hand, or buttons on a table to be pressed; and foot patient who walks on a treadmill in several virtual environments, both for the evaluation of the correctness of the gait, the balance and prevention of falls and for the treatment. This is achieved because the system can generate a perfectly stable optical flow when the patient walks. At the same time and depending on the work perspective (since the patient can also be seen in the third person), the patient's posture can be modified, reducing for example the curvature of the trunk so that the patient reacts to it.

Training program to improve the rhythmic movement of repetitive finger pounding in a virtual environment

The effectiveness of rhythmic sensory stimulation (auditory and visual) has been verified in real environments to improve the performance of motor acts in Parkinson's patients (PD), in other neurological diseases and in the third age. On the other hand, in a preliminary study it was observed that the rhythmic movement of the beating of the finger (diagnostic test commonly known as finger-tapping) performed in a virtual environment is equally reproducible in time and sensitive to alterations of the rhythmic movement of the EP . It is thus determined that the virtual reality system is an effective motor assessment tool with therapeutic possibilities.

Below is a possible therapeutic program based on the use of the virtual reality system to verify its effectiveness in improving the motor alterations related to the upper limb of the PE. To assess the effectiveness of the program, the analysis of the movements of the index finger is used.

1. OBJECTIVES

•

To determine the influence of a therapy based on a virtual reality system on the variability and amplitude of the rhythmic movement of the finger.

•

Determine the effects of on-site, short-term and medium-term training.

2. DURATION OF THE STUDY

9 weeks, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday:

•

1 week of PRE-EVALUATION: it includes a series of classic clinical tests that are associated with alterations in movement in the elderly and in patients with motor disorders, as well as complementary evaluations to the classical tests through virtual environments, including tests of stability in rhythmic repetitive movements (finger pounding, and gait), tests of amplitude of movements (step size, angular displacement of manual movements), motor reaction time, response time (of arm projection movement ) before the appearance of the virtual stimulus. The characteristics of the movement are recorded.

•

4 weeks of THERAPY: it includes the presentation of stimuli and movements of the avatar in the virtual environment that presents movements without the alterations that would have manifested in the PRE-EVALUATION (eg wide manual movements, with wide steps, movements with less variability, movements

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virtual in which the reaction time is shorter than in the PRE-EVALUATION, etc.), so that by imitation the patient achieves the re-education of their movements.

• 1 week of POST-EVALUATION 1: POST-EVALUATION is the same as PRE-EVALUATION, so

that it can be verified if the THERAPY performed in the middle of both produced more physiological movements, and 5 less pathological ones, in the patients.

•

1 week of POST-EVALUATION 2: successive evaluation after a period without therapy to check how long the changes are maintained.

•

1 week of REST: methodological rest that meets similar objectives to that set out in POST-EVALUATION 2.

10 • 1 week of POST-EVALUATION 3: successive evaluation after a period without therapy to check how long the changes are maintained.

The following table shows the outline of a possible study:

Experimental Group

Control group

MONDAY

WEDNESDAY FRIDAY  MONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY

S1

PRE-EVALUATION (OFF)

S2

30 ’(ON) 30 ’  30 ’ 30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’

S3

30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’ 30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’

S4

30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’ 30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’

S5

30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’ 30 ’ 30 ’  30 ’

S6

POST-EVALUATION-1 (OFF)

S7

POST-EVALUATION-2 (OFF)

S8

S9

POST-EVALUATION-3 (OFF)

Table 1: Programming the study

ON, refers to the fact that the patient is under the influence of the medication, for example, of the antiparkinsonian medication for Parkinson's patients.

OFF, refers to the fact that the patient is in the absence of medication, for example, of the antiparkinsonian medication for Parkinson's patients.

The Experimental group (Animation) will carry out the therapy only in the presence of the therapeutic proposal (movement generated and animated by the virtual reality system) so that the movements will be configured 20 to be presented without any pathological alteration and for the subjects ( patients or older) imitate them

looking for a training that improves their movements and that is maintained when they do not use the system described.

The Animation controls parameters of the avatar's motor execution, such as the following: amplitude, frequency,

movement speed, reaction times, etc. In this way the patient can observe training with movements

that do not respond to pathological parameters. It also controls the same elements as in the case of the evaluation.

25 The Control (Capture) group will carry out the same session number as the previous one and the same type of activities, with the only difference that the virtual environment will not be animated with physiological movements, but that the (pathological) movements of The subjects, by what is called the control group, this allows to know if the effect is due to the characteristics of the experimental proposal or simply due to the expectation on the part of the patients.

30 The Control controls the type of test, gait, projection movements, and repetitive movements of the upper limbs. Specifically, it determines the duration of the test and the characteristics of the stimuli presented for the evaluation:

•

Type of stimulus: objects to touch, doors to pass.

•

Characteristics of the stimuli: size of the stimuli, location in the virtual space. 6

•

Latency between stimuli: presentation of stimuli at specific times.

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3. EVALUATIONS

• EVALUATION PROTOCOL (PRE, POST1, POST2 and POST3):

• The repetitive striking of the index finger of the two hands will be evaluated in four conditions and three different frequencies 5:

o Real: evaluation in real environment.

o Capture (Random): evaluation in the virtual environment without the movements being animated (corrected) by the system.

o Animated (Random): evaluation in the virtual environment with corrected movements (without any alteration) by the system

o Real (Random): evaluation in the real environment afterwards to see if the effect of the animation produced by the invention is maintained when it is not used.

• Comfortable slow: characteristic of the frequency of movement used.

• Normal comfortable: characteristic of the frequency of movement used. 15 • Fast comfortable: characteristic of the frequency of movement used.

4. SESSIONS

•

Each session will last approximately 30 minutes.

•

In the experimental group the therapy will consist of the realization of a series of previously configured protocols

in which the virtual reality system will encourage the virtual finger and patients will have to synchronize with the observed movement.

• THERAPY

The therapy will be done with the dominant hand. 10 protocols will be configured. Speed will work

(varying the frequency), the amplitude (the movement always with the maximum amplitude) and the control of the movement (in the

program is called active time the time in which the finger is in motion being the most active the one that takes

25 more and the less active the faster). The following table shows an example of the session.

The following table shows the scheme of a possible therapy:

Frequency

Amplitude

one

Slow  Maximum amplitude

2

Slow  Maximum amplitude

3

Slow  Maximum amplitude

4

Normal  Maximum amplitude

5

Normal  Maximum amplitude

6

Normal  Maximum amplitude

7

Fast  Maximum amplitude

8

Fast  Maximum amplitude

9

Fast  Maximum amplitude

10

Normal frequency Maximum amplitude

Table 2: Session Frequency: Normal or fast slow, are the characteristics of the movements presented in animation, a rehabilitation is sought at different frequencies of movement.

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Amplitude: it is sought that the rehabilitation allows the subject to efficiently execute more and less wide movements, it will be trained with them so that the animation of the avatar reproduces those patterns so that the patient imitates them.

The system has a number of advantages. With respect to real environments, the virtual environment offers the

5 advantage of controlling and modifying stimuli and actions of the user being this very difficult in a real environment in which the variability of the stimuli is not measurable and the execution of a task by the patient is limited by his disability. With respect to other virtual environments, the invention meets conditions of low cost, portability and lightness, and, fundamentally, flexibility in its applications since it allows to create several therapeutic scenarios (for upper, lower limb, gait, balance ... etc.) , adapts to the characteristics of each subject

10 (patients with varying degrees of disability, elderly ...) and allows two basic functions, assess the patient's conditions and treat it.

Once the invention is clearly described, it is noted that the particular embodiments described above are subject to modifications in detail as long as they do not alter the fundamental principle and essence of the invention.

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Claims (12)

1. Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, characterized in that it comprises:

•

a patient module, in turn comprising:

or glasses (1) comprising at least one triaxial accelerometer that captures the movement of the patient's head and a display device for each eye through which the patient visualizes a virtual situation;

or a plurality of reflective markers (2) located in anatomical positions that allow the system to know the position that the patient adopts at each moment;

or a plurality of infrared cameras (3) that capture the situation of the reflective markers (2);

or a communication module (4) that receives the information captured by the glasses (1) and by the infrared cameras (3) and sends it to a processing means (5);

or the processing means (5) that generate the scenario of a virtual situation from the information received from the communication module (4);

•

 an expert module, in turn comprising:

or management means (6) that control a plurality of variables that modify and evaluate the virtual situation scenario to which the patient is subjected.

2.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to claim 1, characterized in that the expert module comprises a visualization module that shows the virtual situation shown to the patient through of display devices.

3.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plurality of variables that control the management means comprises the parameters and protocols of evaluation of the different motor alterations and therapeutic programs for each of said motor alterations.

Four.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the infrared cameras (3) have a sampling frequency of 0.2KHz.

5.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the infrared cameras (3) capture images at a temporal resolution of 150 images per second .

6.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the communication module (4) is configured to synchronize the system through the emission of Temporarily configurable pulses with biological signals of analog and digital nature captured by external peripheral devices that record the patient's activity.

7.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to claim 6, characterized in that the processing means (5) are configured to integrate and synchronize the biological signals captured by the communication module (4).

8.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing means (5) comprise a graphic engine that from the information received from the communication module (4) generates a virtual situation.

9.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plurality of infrared cameras (3) is formed by three cameras for detection of the reflective markers located in the upper limbs of the patient and two cameras for the detection of the reflective markers (2) located in the lower limbs of the patient.

10.

 Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to claim 9, characterized in that the three chambers for the detection of reflective markers (2) located in the upper limbs of the patient comprise a zenith chamber configured to capture the movements of the patient's upper limbs in the plane

ES 2 397 031 A1 5 horizontally, a camera to the left of the patient configured to capture the movements of the patient's right limb in the sagittal plane, and a camera to the right of the patient configured to capture the movements of the patient's left limb in the sagittal plane. 11. Virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases and age, according to any of claims 9-10, characterized in that the Two cameras for the detection of the reflective markers (2) located in the lower limbs of the patient are located laterally to the patient and are configured to capture the movements in the sagittal plane of each of the lower limbs. ES 2 397 031 A1 ES 2 397 031 A1 SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 201130741 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 10.05.2011 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: A61B5 / 11 (2006.01) G09G5 / 00 (2006.01) RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

56 Documents cited Claims Affected

Y

WO 2004008427 A (BARAM YORAM) 22.01.2004, page 6, line 2 - page 10, line 2. 1-11

Y

US 6774885 B (EVEN-ZOHAR) 10.08.2004, paragraphs 4.29-31.41-77.89-134.144-149. 1-11

TO

DE 102005011432 A (VOLKSWAGEN AG) 14.09.2006, summary; paragraphs 13.14. 1,9-11

TO

US 2010145236 A (GREENBERG et al.) 06.10.2010, paragraphs 5.20-51. 1-11

TO

US 6176837 B (FOXLIN) 23.01.2001, claims 1-47. 1-11

TO

US 2008 280276 A (RABER at al.) 13.11.2008, summary; paragraphs 51-73. 1-11

TO

HOLDEN M. “Virtual environments for motor rehabilitation: review”, Cyberpsychology & behavior: the impact of the internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society, USA, 06.2005, vol. 8, no. 3, pages 187-211. 1-11

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of realization of the report 12.02.2013

Examiner A. Cárdenas Villar Page 1/4

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 201130741 Minimum documentation sought (classification system followed by classification symbols) A61B, G09G Electronic databases consulted during the search (name of the database and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI, NPL, INSPEC, BIOSIS, MEDLINE State of the Art Report Page 2/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201130741 Date of Written Opinion: 12.02.2013 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims 1-11 IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims Claims 1-11 IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201130741  1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

WO 2004008427 A (BARAM YORAM) 01/22/2004

D02

US 6774885 B (EVEN-ZOHAR) 10.08.2004

D03

FROM 102005011432 A (VOLKSWAGEN AG) 14.09.2006

D04

US 2010145236 A (GREENBERG et al.) 06.10.2010

D05

US 6176837 B (FOXLIN) 23.01.2001

D06

US 2008 2807 A (RABER at al.) 13.11.2008

D07

HOLDEN M. “Virtual environments for motor rehabilitation: review”, Cyberpsychology & behavior: the impact of the internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society, USA, 06.2005, vol. 8, no. 3, pages 187-211. 06.2005

 2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement The patent application under study has an independent claim, No. 1, which refers to a virtual reality system for the evaluation and treatment of motor disorders that is formed by a module composed of glasses comprising an accelerometer and a device for screen; reflective markers; infrared cameras; media and processing media; The system also has a means of management. The dependent claims refer to the characteristics of the main components of the system. As the first claim of this application appears, we can consider document D01 as the closest in the state of the art. This document describes a virtual reality system designed for the treatment of diseases with movement disorders as occurs in the case of Parkinson's disease. The described system comprises a device installed in the head (DIC) of the patient which, as in the application under study, consists of glasses together with several sensors, specifically accelerometers and specifically triaxial accelerometers, and a display screen ( see page 6, line 13 - page 7, line 11). The system also has means of communication (wired or wireless) that allow the information from the DIC to be transmitted to processing means that include filtering media and image generation means that allow to obtain images adapted for the patient and that are sent to the display screen (see page 7, line 12 - page 10, line 2). Unlike the system described in the application under study in this document no markers or infrared cameras are found and management means are not mentioned. However, in document D02, which refers to a motion capture system to provide a virtual application environment in patient rehabilitation processes, these components are described in detail. Indeed, the system claimed in said document includes a motion capture module that uses optical cameras and markers. It also describes in detail an external module with management means to control the virtual environment characteristics. Although the motion capture module does not use cameras in the infrared frequency, the use of infrared is well known in the state of the art, as can be found, for example, in the cited document D03. Therefore, and as the claims are currently drafted, it has been considered that the application under study is novel but that the inventive activity would be affected by the combination of documents D01 and D02 as specified in Articles 6 and 8 of Patent Law. On the other hand, documents D04 - D07 describe different aspects of the state of the art. State of the Art Report Page 4/4