A Wearable Device for Virtual Cyber Therapy of Phantom Limb Pain

Abstract

Phantom limb pain (PLP) is the condition most often occurs in people who have had a limb amputated and it is may affect their life severely. When the brain sends movement signals to the phantom limb, it returns and causes a pain. Many medical approaches aim to treat the PLP, however the mirror therapy still considered as the base therapy method. The aim of this research is to develop a wearable device that measures the EMG signals from PLP patients to classify movements on the amputated limb. These signals can be used in virtual reality and augmented reality environments to realize the movements in order to reduce pain. A data set was generated with measurements taken from 8 different subjects and the classification accuracy achieved as 90% with Neural Networks method that can be used in cyber therapies. This type of therapy provides strong visuals which make the patient feel he/she really have the limb. The patient will have great therapy session time with comparison to the other classical therapy methods that can be used in home environments.