Design of a paediatric occupational therapy device to improve cognitive and physical capabilities in cases of ataxia

Some children have problems concentrating and difficulty in using their hands for basic daily activities due to a condition known as ataxia, which has many causes. The impact of this thus varies from case to case. The idea underlying the current work is to design and manufacture a technological devi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ali, Saad M., Kashan, Jenan S., Mahmood, Dania S., Ali, Layan N., Hantoush, Fatima H.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Ataxia
Brain
Color
Coordination
Desks
Motor ability
Occupational therapy
Software
Therapy
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Summary:Some children have problems concentrating and difficulty in using their hands for basic daily activities due to a condition known as ataxia, which has many causes. The impact of this thus varies from case to case. The idea underlying the current work is to design and manufacture a technological device inspired by traditional occupational therapy that can function in a toy-like manner while allowing users to improve their hand-eye coordination and focus, thus enabling affected children to be able to take better care of themselves and become more active members of society in time. The proposed device consists of a small lap desk, an electronic unit, thirteen LED buttons in four different colours, and a glove with five LEDs on each fingertip. The LED lights on the lap desk are turned on randomly, and the matching LED on one of the fingertips should then be turned on by the user. This product trains the brain, seeking to improve hand-eye coordination by repeated selection and activation of the appropriate button on the lap desk to match the colour on the glove, and pressing the button. A software program was therefore designed to create random runs of colour groups to ensure the brain is trained to respond quickly rather than memorising colour sequences. The device has shown effective initial results in terms of accelerating the learning and rehabilitation process, and, due to the current lack of technology use in occupational therapy in the treatment of ataxia, the response speed of standard sessions is relatively slow. The utility of the proposed device lies in its ability to develop and accelerate cognitive assistance to help mitigate the impact of this condition, leading those with ataxia to a stage where they can become self-reliant in less time than traditional methods of occupational therapy.
ISSN:0094-243X
1551-7616
DOI:10.1063/5.0204478