After a stroke, mass practice, task-oriented arm training of the upper and lower limbs can help the brain “re-program” itself and form new neural connections. These new connections stimulate recovery of motor skills in patients following stroke. So VR may be useful to augment rehabilitation of the upper and lower limbs in patients suffering from stroke and other neurological injuries.

In some studies, therapists have manipulated the image onscreen to make the patient’s limb appear to be moving faster and more accurately than it was in real life. Doing this increased the patient’s confidence and made them more likely to use their affected limb spontaneously. Spontaneous use of the affected limb can help the limb recover more completely.

I am setting up a protocol using VR combined with balance exercises to improve the core and the balance on stroke patients.

I am recommending you to use XBox Kinect Exercise and may you can mix with conventional physical therapy.

I think it could be used as a more sophisticated form of mirror therapy, all though I´m not sure if research in to that area is already being conducted.

Hi,

Some of our group's prior works on VR and rehabilitation may be helpful to you:

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339978865_Using_Virtual_Reality_to_Examine_the_Neural_and_Physiological_Anxiety-Related_Responses_to_Balance-Demanding_Target-Reaching_Leaning_Tasks

2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339094908_Using_Virtual_Reality_to_Examine_the_Correlation_between_Balance_Function_and_Anxiety_in_Stance

3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336327051_Using_Virtual_Reality_to_Examine_the_Neural_and_Physiological_Responses_to_Height_and_Perturbations_in_Quiet_Standing

4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328749149_Virtual_Reality_Visual_Cliffs_and_Movement_Disorders

5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336189638_Using_Virtual_Reality_High_Fall-Risk_Condition_Training_to_Improve_Postural_Control_Accuracy_and_Speed

Following.