Effect of proprioception training of patient with hemiplegia by manipulating visual feedback using virtual reality: The preliminary results

Abstract

In this study, we confirmed proprioception training effect of patients with hemiplegia by manipulating visual feedback. Six patients with hemiplegia were participated in the experiment. Patients have trained with the reaching task with visual feedback without visual feedback for two weeks. Patients were evaluated with pre-, middle test and post-test with the task with and without visual feedback. In the results, the first-click error distance after the training of the reaching task was reduced when they got the training with the task removed visual feedback. In addition, the performance velocity profile of reaching movement formed an inverse U shape after the training. In conclusion, visual feedback manipulation using virtual reality could provide a tool for training reaching movement by enforcing to use their proprioception, which enhances reaching movement skills for patients with hemiplegia.