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Updated: Nov 11, 2025
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Mobile Game-based Virtual Reality Program for Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation
Published on: March 8, 2018
19.3K
A Depth Camera-Based, Task-Specific Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Game for Patients With Stroke: Pilot Usability
Yangfan Xu1,2, Meiqinzi Tong1, Wai-Kit Ming3
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
JMIR Serious Games
|March 24, 2021
Summary
This study shows that Stomp Joy, a virtual reality game, effectively improves lower extremity function in stroke survivors, matching conventional physical therapy outcomes. Further research is recommended for widespread clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Neuroscience
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in clinical rehabilitation.
- Commercial VR games show mixed results for post-stroke lower extremity recovery.
- Task-specific VR interventions are needed to optimize rehabilitation outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and assess the feasibility and clinical efficacy of Stomp Joy, a novel depth camera-based VR game for lower extremity stroke rehabilitation.
- To evaluate Stomp Joy's impact on motor function, daily living activities, and balance in stroke survivors.
Main Methods:
- A feasibility test using the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was conducted.
- A randomized controlled trial involved 22 stroke patients over 2 weeks.
- Participants received conventional physical therapy (control) or therapy plus Stomp Joy (experimental).
- Outcomes included Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Lower Extremity (FMA-LE), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and single-leg stance (SLS) time.
Main Results:
- Stomp Joy enhanced user motivation, including interest, perceived competence, and effort.
- Both groups improved in FMA-LE, MBI, BBS, and SLS time.
- The experimental group showed significantly greater improvement in SLS time compared to the control group.
- No significant group differences were found for FMA-LE, MBI, or BBS.
Conclusions:
- Stomp Joy is a feasible and effective VR intervention for post-stroke lower extremity rehabilitation.
- It can partially replace conventional physiotherapy, yielding comparable improvements in lower extremity function.
- Larger, high-powered randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm these findings and guide routine clinical adoption.
