Accenture has built an application on SAP Cloud Platform using SAP Leonardo technologies and virtual reality to help amputees overcome challenges when confronted with phantom limb pain, it announced this week. The application will be donated by Accenture to hospitals and made available on multiple platforms.
The Accenture Liquid Studio for SAP Leonardo in Brazil used an armband that uses SAP Leonardo capabilities and virtual reality dashboards to create a gamification platform that encourages patients to wear appropriate prosthetics and make what can be monotonous therapy exercises more appealing and engaging.
The two organizations are developing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that include virtual reality (VR) technology along with biomechanical, 3D-printable prosthetics to encourage patients to complete their physical therapy (PT) and improve their physical and mental well-being.
The dashboard also helps physical therapists diagnose the treatment of phantom limb pain more accurately and create personalized therapy plans with improved detecting, measuring and analyzing of electrical signals in patients’ muscles.
The initiative is still being tested with a control group in Brazil. Accenture and the USP School of Medicine will have the solution authorized by local health organizations in Brazil and then make it available around the world.
Accenture is testing the connected armband in physical therapy treatments at the Hospital das Clinicas in São Paulo, Brazil. The initial findings suggest that patients using the connected armband and application reported higher self-esteem and made greater improvements than just physical therapy alone. The physical therapists reported more accurate calibration of prosthetics and noticed bigger leaps in their patients’ progressive treatments.
Accenture and the USP School of Medicine believe that the exercises could also help reduce patients’ time in physical therapy and increase the percentage of patients that finish their therapy plans.
“Phantom limb pain is a chronic, physically and mentally debilitating condition for most patients after undergoing amputations,” said Candida Luzo, head of Occupational Therapy at Hospital das Clinicas. “Accenture has demonstrated a viable, low-cost option to assist in the rehabilitation of patients with amputations. This will be an invaluable tool in our physical and occupational therapy programs.”
“Our application takes intelligent technologies such as Internet of Things, analytics and virtual reality to rapidly create an easy-to-use, cost-effective application. It captures real-time data for better measurements and personalized therapy plans that can improve physical progress and decrease phantom limb pain for people with amputations,” said Daniel Gonzalez, managing director and Accenture Liquid Studio Lead for Accenture Brazil. “We developed this application with input from healthcare professionals and patients to help drive social change and transformation by tackling challenges in new ways.”
