SBIR Phase I: Patient Digital Twin and Performance Capture System for Scoliosis Physiotherapy

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力集中在脊柱侧凸理疗。脊柱侧凸理疗锻炼（PSSE）已被证明对脊柱侧凸患者有效;然而，由于计划不当、要求不明确和依从性差，PSSE的有效性可能会显著降低。本项目旨在开发一个硬件-软件集成系统，该系统采用合成的沉浸式环境，供物理治疗师和患者有效地进行PSSE。该技术可以为患者节省成本，扩大诊所服务，并改善脊柱侧弯理疗的结果。该技术的商业化将通过企业对企业和企业对客户的机制进行。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的重点是开发一个硬件和软件集成系统，该系统采用患者数字孪生（PDT）和性能捕获系统来创建一个合成，物理治疗师和患者利用物理治疗师和脊柱侧凸患者之间的远程医疗通信的沉浸式环境。 该技术旨在提高诊断和评估的准确性和完整性，优化物理治疗设计和规划，促进有效的患者沟通和教育，并帮助患者根据指示和合规性要求进行理疗锻炼。利用PDT可以在三维空间进行脊柱侧凸的诊断和脊柱畸形的评估，从而提高评估的完整性和PSSE的设计。通过建立一个轻量级的性能捕获系统，身体形状，姿势和运动可以在三维空间中捕获真实的时间。该团队试图通过在临床实践中捕获的运动动画PDT在3D游戏中代表规定的PSSE。以这种方式，可以监测、评估患者在家庭锻炼期间的实际姿势和运动，并将其用于以调整后的3D游戏作为参考进行指导。第一阶段的目标是证明拟议创新的技术和商业可行性，这将通过技术可行性研究，初始原型和商业可行性论证来完成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact /commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on scoliosis physiotherepy. Physiotherapy Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSEs) have been proved effective in treating scoliosis patients; However, PSSE effectiveness can be significantly reduced due to inappropriate planning, unclear requirements, and poor compliance. This project seeks to develop a hardware-software integrated system which employs a synthetic, immersive environment for physiotherapists and patients to conduct PSSEs effectively. The technology may save costs for patients, expand services for clinics, and improve the outcomes of scoliosis physiotherapy. The commercialization of the technology will be conducted via business to business and business to customer mechanisms.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on the development a hardware-software integrated system which employs a patient digital twin (PDT) and a performance capture system to create a synthetic, immersive environment for physiotherapists and patients to utilize telehealth communication between physiotherapists and scoliosis patients. The technology seeks to improve the accuracy and completeness of diagnosis and assessment, optimize physiotherapy design and planning, facilitate effective patient communication and education, and help patients to perform physiotherapeutic exercises according to instructions and compliance requirements. By using PDT, the diagnosis of scoliosis and assessment of spine deformity can be performed in 3D space thus improving the completeness of assessment and the design of PSSEs. By building a light-weight performance capture system, body shape, pose, and motion can be captured in 3D space in real time. The teams seeks to represent the prescribed PSSEs in 3D games by animating the PDT with motion captured during clinic practice. In this way, the actual poses and motions of a patient during home exercise can be monitored, evaluated, and used to instruct with adjusted 3D games as reference. The goal of Phase I is to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of the proposed innovation, which will be accomplished through a technical feasibility study, initial prototyping, and a commercial feasibility demonstration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.