LT6599B - Mobile virtual reality system for carrying out subjective visual vertical test - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a system and method for testing the human vestibular apparatus using a subjective visual vertical perception test. The test tool is designed for doctors and/or other medical professionals from all over the world working in their practice with patients who are complaining of dizziness as well as for scientists carrying out researches on impacts on the vestibular system. The system comprises a virtual reality device and a manipulator used by the patient; a doctor's smart device used by the doctor; a server with an online user interface to review and analyse the test results by a remote doctor. The test method has the following basic modes: a calibration mode, a static test mode, a dynamic test mode, and a realistic scene dynamic test mode. The dynamic subjective vertical test has a higher diagnostic sensitivity than the static. The subjective visual vertical perception test tool is portable, it can be easily transported, a dark room is not needed in order to carry out the test, the devices used by the patient operate wirelessly, therefore, the movements of the patient are not restricted, the test results can be transmitted via the internet.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field of medical equipment, and more particularly to a system and method for conducting a visual vertical perception study.

TECHNICAL LEVEL

A system and method for diagnosing diseases of patients who suffer from dizziness are described, and more specifically, a system and method for the complex evaluation of vestibular dysfunction. The system consists of a virtual reality device used by the patient, a device to record hand movements (eg electronic bracelet or other manipulator), a physician device to control and control the diagnosis session, a remote physician device to obtain diagnosis data. The technical solution provided allows the examination without the usual dark room, the equipment is easily transported and therefore can be used at the patient's place, it has dynamic subjective visual vertical perception examination, used virtual dynamic reality test, hand-operated control, used wireless data transmission .

US2012218285 (Published 08/30/2012) provides methods and systems for identifying and treating vestibular disorders. The system has an imaging module, a motion module, a tracking module, and a modification module. System performance is based on the relationship between the displayed images and the patient's head motion. It is evident from the above solution that data sharing is not adapted and there is no other option than to determine the patient's disease parameters by measuring head motion. A similar device where the patient's disease parameters can be determined by measuring head and eye movements is disclosed in US20160262608 (published September 15, 2016).

Document US2012089049 (issued April 12, 2012) provides a virtual reality glasses based system for performing a head tilt response test. In the documented system, the position of the patient's visible object is controlled by changing the orientation of the head.

This description introduces a system where the position of the virtual 3D object visible on the virtual reality screen is changed by a gesture-controlled control. The inertial orientation sensor in the glasses is used to determine the orthogonal position of the head relative to the Earth's gravity vector.

The following state-of-the-art solutions have the following disadvantages compared to the solution in this description:

- there is no possibility of dynamic visual vertical perception examination,

- the presented systems do not have the capability of a virtual realistic dynamic visual stimulus,

- dark room required for examination;

- no wireless data transmission is used,

- the results of the study do not give any indication as to the patient's behavior during testing or the patient's confidence in the choices made.

The technical solution presented in this description does not have the drawbacks listed above.

THE SUBSTANCE OF THE INVENTION

This description provides a system and method for determining the perception of the subject's vertical line of sight. The research tool is intended for physicians of various specialties and / or other medical professionals who work with patients with dizziness in their practice. The system consists of a virtual reality device and manipulator used by the patient; physician smart device used by a physician; a device used by a remote physician to review and analyze the test results. The diagnostic mode consists of the following basic modes: calibration mode, static test mode, dynamic test mode, real image test mode.

The research tool does not take up much space, is easy to transport, does not require a dark room, the patient's devices operate wirelessly, so the patient's movements are not restricted, and the research results can be transmitted online.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. provides a schematic view of the components that make up the system.

The illustrations presented are more illustrative, the scale, proportions and other aspects do not necessarily correspond to the actual technical solution.

PREFERRED {LIVING OPTIONS

The system presented in this description is intended for physicians of various specialties (eg otolaryngologists, neurologists, rehabologists, geriatricians, family physicians) and / or other medical professionals who work with patients with dizziness in their practice. It is a web technology based system that operates on the Internet and provides a web page interface. The system shall comprise at least the following devices:

Patient used:

- virtual reality device (1);

- a manipulator (2);

used by the doctor:

- a doctor's smart device (3);

used by a remote doctor:

- a device for viewing and analyzing test results (5).

In addition to the devices listed above, the system also comprises a server (4), an Internet network infrastructure, and technical means for interconnecting the said devices for data exchange.

Patient Virtual Reality Device (1) (Figure 1) - A device providing computer-generated visual information to the patient's eyes, usually placed, clamped, mounted on the head, and can perform other functions such as head tilt and orientation. , registration of environmental visual information, etc. The function of such a device (1) can be performed by a virtual reality helmet, special virtual reality goggles, other smart devices which can be used in the aforementioned manner, have the mentioned functions. The patient's virtual reality device (1) (or a separate device controlling it) is embedded with software that implements the test method, and is controlled and controlled by the physician's smart device (3). The virtual reality device (1) sends and receives data to / from the physician's smart device (3) via short-range wireless communication (Bluetooth, etc.). The virtual reality device (1) software of the present invention can operate in the following modes:

- a calibration mode in which the patient is asked to adjust the virtual reality device (1) according to the instructions provided so that the virtual reality scene displayed is clearly visible;

- static test mode, in which the position of the arrow displayed to the patient is to be vertical by means of a manipulator. This test also implements measures that allow the test to start only when the patient's head position is appropriate;

- in the dynamic test mode, the static test is supplemented with spherical spheres (or other geometric shapes) that move, rotate or counterclockwise, the number of spheres and the rotation speed are selected by a physician's smart device (3);

- In real-life video test mode, the patient is presented with a real-life scene, such as a ship surrounded by waves, so that the patient sees a changing horizon and has no exact reference point to determine the vertical.

Another device used by the patient is the manipulator (2). In the present invention, the manipulator (2) is a patient-operated, human-machine interface device that transmits information to the virtual reality device (1) and thereby controls the start and end of the test and the tilt angle of the virtual object. The manipulator (2) can be implemented as a smart gesture and turn recognition bracelet using electromyogram and inertia (accelerometer) sensors. In the first case, the patient shows by hand certain agreed marks (eg clenched fist, hand in a certain direction, etc.) that are recognized by gesture recognition software. The recognized commands are sent to the patient's smart device controlling the virtual reality device (1). In the second embodiment, the manipulator (2) may be a mechanical-electronic device (e.g., game consoles, joysticks, etc. used in computer games), wherein the patient-movable portion of the manipulator (2) generates an electrical signal transmitted to the virtual reality device (1). controlling the patient’s smart device.

The functions of a physician's smart device (3) can be performed by various smart devices (e.g., smartphone, tablet, smart watch, etc.) having technical means of communication with the Internet network, having installed system software controlling said physician device (3). ) and enables data exchange between the patient device, the doctor device (3) and the system server (4). In another embodiment, the doctor may use two smart devices, such as a smartphone and a smart watch. The software of the physician smart device (3) controls the software of the patient's virtual reality device (1).

Via an internet connection (https and / or other technologies), the physician's smart device (3) connects to the server (4), which incorporates system software for data exchange between devices, for data storage, processing, visualization, and reporting. The server (4) is also equipped with secure means of user login and identification.

A remote medical device (5) connects to the server (4) via an Internet connection. Remote medical device (5) means an electronic device which is capable of connecting to the Internet and of presenting data in a web browser (eg smartphone, tablet, computer, etc.). The software has all the necessary tools to manage users and their rights and perform other administrative tasks. The remote doctor can monitor the patient's measurement results, analyze them, process them, and send them. This system provides detailed information on how the patient behaved during the test. Such information shall be included in the diagnosis report. In addition to the fact that the test decision itself is made, the test decision results include other information relevant to the decision. Using this information, it is possible to judge whether the patient has made a mistake, whether the patient is self-assured or, on the contrary, has made guesses, acted uncertainly during the test, and has long hesitated before making a decision.

In order to illustrate and describe the present invention, the following description of preferred embodiments is provided. This is not a detailed or restrictive description intended to determine the exact form or embodiment, the description above should be viewed as an illustration rather than a limitation of j. It will be appreciated that many modifications and variations may be apparent to those skilled in the art, and an embodiment has been selected and described to enable those skilled in the art to understand the principles of the invention and their best practical application for different embodiments with different modifications suitable for a particular application or implementation. The scope of the invention is intended to be defined by the appended definition and its equivalents, in which all the foregoing terms have a broad meaning, unless otherwise stated.

In embodiments described by those of ordinary skill in the art, changes may be made within the scope of the present invention as defined in the following definition.

Claims (8)

1. A mobile virtual reality system for conducting a subjective visual vertical perception study shall have at least the following components: a virtual reality device (1) for displaying virtual images to a patient; a physician smart device (3) for monitoring and controlling patient test results, characterized by having a manipulator (2) capable of manually controlling the functions of the virtual reality device, a server (4) for exchanging data between devices, for storing, processing , visualizing and shaping reports, a remote medical device (5) for monitoring, analyzing, and storing the results of a subjective visual vertical perception examination. A system for performing subjective visual vertical perception testing according to claim 1, characterized in that the manipulator (2) is a smart gesture and tilt recording bracelet or mechanical-electronic device such as game consoles, joysticks and / or computer games, wherein the patient-movable part of the manipulator (2) transmits commands and rotation angles to the patient's smart device controlling the virtual reality device (1). 3. A system for performing subjective visual vertical perception testing according to claim 1, characterized in that the doctor's smart device (3) connects to the results of the examination of the Internet network and to exchange other data with the server (4). A system for performing subjective visual vertical perception testing according to claim 1, characterized in that the virtual reality device (1) transmits and receives data to / from the medical smart device (3) via a short-range wireless connection (Bluetooth, etc.). 5. A method for conducting a subjective visual vertical perception study, having a static test mode, further comprising a dynamic test mode in which the static test is complemented by three-dimensional spheres (or other geometric shapes) that move, rotate or counterclockwise. quantity, speed of rotation is selected by a doctor's smart device (3). 6. A method for performing subjective visual vertical perception testing according to claim 5, characterized in that it has a calibration mode in which the patient is asked to adjust the virtual reality device (1) according to the instructions so that the visual reality scene is clearly visible to patients with different visual acuity. 7. A method for performing subjective visual vertical perception testing according to claim 5, characterized by having a real-life video test mode in which the patient is exposed to a real-life scene, such as a wave vessel, thereby seeing the patient on a changing horizon set. 8. A method for conducting a subjective visual vertical perception test according to claim 5, wherein the results provided provide detailed information on how the patient behaved during the test, whether the patient made a mistake, whether the patient was self-assured, and so forth.