Development of a compensation-aware virtual rehabilitation system for upper extremity rehabilitation in community-dwelling older adults with stroke.

Background: Compensatory movements are commonly observed in older adults with stroke during upper extremity (UE) motor rehabilitation, which could limit their motor recovery.

Aim: This study aims to develop a compensation-aware virtual rehabilitation system (VRS) that can detect compensatory movements and improve the outcome of UE rehabilitation in community-dwelling older adults with stroke.

Methods: The VRS development includes three main components: (1) the use of thresholds for determining compensatory movements, (2) the algorithm for processing the kinematic data stream from Kinect to detect compensation in real-time, and (3) the audio-visual feedback to assist older adults with stroke to be aware of the compensation.