A 4 weeks home training program using a biofeedback serious game and sensors for Parkinson's disease: A pilot study on a new and completely autonomous solution

This paper evaluates, with Parkinson' patients, an innovative device developed within a Living Lab. The BYM system incorporates visual and auditory feedback as well as a self-adaptive serious game that takes into account the previous performance of the subject in order to promote compliance. The assessment focuses on the feasibility and effectiveness of a 4-week self-rehabilitation program based on the use of this system. 7 patients (5 women, 2 men, mean age = 66 years, number of years of illness = 11 years) were included without any change of medicines during study. There were no adverse effect of self rehabilitation by BYM system. Mean compliance was 93% (an average of 21 days on 23 days of protocol). For each subject, performance on the different walking tests was improved: + 7.7% on the 6-minute test (pre = 356m, post = 384m), + 2.7% on the TimeUp & Go (pre = 7.5%), + 7.6% on the comfortable 10 meters (pre = 9.8s, post = 7.5s) and + 12.6% on the fast 10 meters (pre = 6.6s, post = 6.1s). Results show that this self-rehabilitation program by serious game is easy to implement in this population, with complete autonomy in the home with a good adhesion of patients. This pilot study made it possible to establish the feasibility of a prospective, randomized, single-blind study BYM PARK that will allow a larger cohort to assess the compliance and effectiveness of the self-rehabilitation system.