Virtual Reality for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most devastating states of disability encountered by today's health care. It is a catastrophic injury especially due to the unique role of the spinal cord as a nerve centre. It is a low incidence high cost disability requiring tremendous changes in an individual's lifestyle. It results in the impairment of motor and/or sensory function below and at the level of injury. SCI results in reduction in supraspinal, intraspinal and afferent sources and these changes further results in reduction in descending drive and this reduced rate of transmission of relevant information from motor cortex to the spinal cord limits the performance. Recent advancement in the computer-game technology provides innovative ways of encouraging patients to engage in intensive task-specific training. Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-based, interactive, multisensory simulation environment that occurs in real time. Virtual reality, whether immersive or non-immersive, has the potential to create stimulating and fun environments and develop a range of skills and task-based techniques to sustain participant interest and motivation. This results in better movement outcomes.