Phase I-Designing a biofeedback device for quadriceps re-education-bridging the gap in exercise compliance

Abstract

Knee Osteoarthritis is a painful and disabling condition which causes difficulty in activities of daily living. Such patients are referred for physiotherapy sessions where they were prescribed with exercises as home programs, quadriceps isometrics was the commonly prescribed exercises as it causes the least intraarticular inflammation than other types of exercises. Research reports poor compliance to the exercise program with lack of confidence and doubt of performing correctly were being commonly reported answers to the lack of compliance. With the idea to improve the compliance to the exercise program this device is developed which helps the patients to perform the exercises at home and improve their confidence levels too. The Microcontroller used is Arduino Mega 2560 and Force sensor. Force sensor is used to sense the force produced by the patient and MCP6004 operational amplifier is used as Voltage follower for providing the exact voltage. It also has audio feedback and visual feedback, Audio feed back is given by connecting a voice playback module and a buzzer and visual feedback is given by LED’s of three colours- red, yellow, blue. LCD also displays the time taken by the patients. This device will surely improve the compliance with exercises for the wellbeing of patient.