Transforming Robot-mediated Telerehabilitation: Citizen Science for Rehabilitation

Feasibility of a Kinect-Based Citizen Science Telerehabilitation Platform

The purpose of this study is to advance upper limb robot-mediated tele-rehabilitation for patients recovering from stroke by empowering them through active science participation. By varying the tasks' features and affordances of a platform that combines a low-cost haptic device on one hand, and an online citizen science platform on the other, investigators will evaluate different strategies for social telerehabilitation. the two fundamental modes of social interaction - competition and cooperation - in addition to a control condition. Specifically, citizen science activities will be performed by competing, cooperating, or isolated users, and their rehabilitation effectiveness examined. Such effectiveness will be measured by (i) participants' rehabilitation performance (inferred from sensorimotor data acquired through the platform and directly quantified by a supervising therapist); (ii) participants' motivations to contribute (measured through surveys administered online); and (iii) participants' emotional well-being and sense of self-esteem (measured through online surveys).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stroke; Hemiparesis
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Citizen Science intervention using kinect

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21231
      • Matthew Bird

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For treatment group:

• post-stroke hemiparesis >3 months
• ability to stand or sit independently
• sufficient cognitive skills to perform the exercises as demonstrated
• full passive range of motion in the affected arm but limited active movement as determined by a upper extremity Fugl-Meyer score of <50/66
• technical savvy and interest to use an internet platform

For control group:

(ii) no history of learning disabilities (iii) technical savvy and interest to use an internet platform

Exclusion Criteria:

For treatment group:

• visual deficit such as deficit in visual acuity, eye movements, visual field cut, or neglect
• medical comorbidity such as other neurological conditions (e.g. Parkinson's disease, brain tumor, epilepsy), or previous injury to the upper limb
• pain in the upper limbs that prevents full passive range of motion to perform the exercises.

For control group:

• visual deficit such as deficit in visual acuity, eye movements, visual field cut, or neglect
• any previous injury or medical condition that prevents full passive range of motion to perform the exercises.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Device Feasibility
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Stroke Patients	Device: Citizen Science intervention using kinect; Users are asked to tag objects on a screen

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility of the kinect motion capture platform to capture movement assessed by range of motion	Range-of-motion measurements of the affected and unaffected arm using the kinect motion capture platform.	1 day
Feasibility of the kinect motion capture platform to capture workload assessed by NASA Task Load Index	Assesses work load on five 7-point scales. A series of measures that capture workload. Each scale employs a visual analog scale that measures each of the domains. The domains are Mental Domain, Physical Demand, Temporal Demand, Performance, Effort and Frustration Level. Each scale domain and the Composite has a range from 0 to 100 with 100 being the highest indicator of workload.	1 day
Feasibility of the kinect motion capture platform usability assessed by the System usability scale	Using a 10 item scale to assess the usability of the technology platform with stroke patients. The measure is scored on a 0-100 scale, a higher score means a better outcome.	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University
• Collaborators: National Science Foundation; Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Preeti Raghavan, MD, Johns Hopkins University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 27, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 21, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 21, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 30, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 11, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 7, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Stroke; Hemiparesis; cognitive skills; internet platform; technical
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Paresis
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00225650

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No