Ataxia is a degenerative disease of the nervous system that is caused by damage to the cerebellum. Ataxia is similar to Parkinson's disease. Some patients have trouble walking, speaking, swallowing, or moving their eyes. In some cases, Ataxia can even lead to death. Although it is a serious disease, it is rare, so data and research on it are lacking.
Currently, these tests are used to diagnose Ataxia.
In order to evaluate ataxia of the upper limbs, neurological tests include the finger-to-finger test, the finger-to-nose test, and the Peg test. The problem with these tests is that it is difficult to obtain a quantitative value, and as a result, leads to inconsistencies in evaluating the patient's condition and treatment effectiveness.
So, we came up with AtaxiaV.
This is a program that would allow patients to draw lines, rectangles, and other shapes and then track the location of their fingers to obtain quantitative data on their movement paths and mobility. This would allow us to help doctors diagnose Ataxia objectively and accurately. After that, we wanted to make newer versions that allowed for rehabilitation exercise and tracking in 3D rather than 2D environment.
The touching rhythm game is a game that touching and removing objects that are randomly generated according to the music. This game allows patients to exercise their upper limb muscles, practice quick reactions to rapidly changing situations, and help their eye-tracking movements.
A throwing ball game is a game in which you throw a ball to hit the target by using the palm or back of your hand to hit the ball. This game allows patients to better control the strength of their upper limbs.
Voice recognition maze game is a game where you use your voice to move the character up, down, left, and right to find your way through a maze. Many patients have trouble speaking, so this game would help patients practice their speaking.
Drawing and Coloring is a game that allows you to draw pictures even with small, inaccurate movements. This program encourages patients to continue with their tests as it seems that they have progressed.
We had two problems during development. One was learning new coding languages like C# and unity and new tools. Leap motion controller. The other was getting patient data. Due to Covid-19, we had no real patient data, which hindered us from obtaining any data. Eventually, as research in ataxia grows, we might be able to obtain that test data.
A game-like environment allows patients to actively engage in treatment on their own. It will allow the patient to happily continue with their treatment. Not much special equipment is required. With just a small leap motion controller, patients can test and exercise using their laptops. AtaxiaV is expected to obtain a lot of accurate data. It is also expected to assist in developing treatment methods and drugs for Ataxia patients and also testing those treatments’ effectiveness.
Initially, our goal was just to make a program that could help treat Ataxia.
We had been focusing on collecting data after diagnosing and treating Ataxia patients using a laptop and a leap motion controller. However, with the rise of COVID-19, we came up with another idea.
When a treatment or drug is developed, it requires a lot of experimentation before being able to release it to the public. If we have many experiments being carried out at the same time with different conditions in different locations, we will have more data on the treatments’ effectiveness, and be able to more quickly find a better treatment or release this treatment to the public. Therefore, in the future, we want our next project to revolve around a medical data organization system.