CMU receives grant from U.S. Defense Department to create game to aid soldiers with traumatic brain injuries

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A $391,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense is allowing Central Michigan University to create and test a virtual reality therapy game that will rehabilitate soldiers.

The virtual video game aims to heal the lasting mental and physical impairment associated with traumatic brain injuries — something soldiers may experience during their service.

Ksenia Ustinova, assistant physical therapy professor, has been involved with the development of the game, which will eventually be used in military hospitals.

“These games will hopefully improve coordination, balance and motor abilities,” Ustinova said. “This is an honor for CMU to be involved.”

The losses soldiers experience from traumatic brain injuries account for about 33 to 66 percent of all reported cases, she said.

By participating in the game, traumatic brain injury victims undergo repetitive virtual tasks designed to retrain muscles for real-world coordination. The simulator utilizes an 82-inch 3-D television, laptop computer and motion capture system.

“The virtual reality-based gaming therapy will be developed as an alternative, cost-effective approach to the conventional ‘hands on’ rehabilitation frequently used in patients with TBI,” Ustinova said.

In addition to CMU employees, there is also a representative from a collaborating out-of-state hospital involved with the project, as well as programmer assistants and research assistants.

CMU just received the grant letter and there is much paperwork still to be completed with the Department of Defense, Ustinova said.

California senior and programmer assistant Lisette Tamkei is working on the graphic design for the program. She has been creating and designing the 3-D environments as well as implementing them for data capturing.

“We are currently in the process of creating three scenarios,” Tamkei said. “We assess the amount of damage to the ex-soldiers by analyzing the subject’s reaction times and their ability to retain information over a couple of days.

Chris Ingersoll, Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions dean, is also excited about the program.

“Less than 4 percent of proposals to the Department of Defense were accepted and we were competing against all of them,” Ingersoll said. “This gives us the opportunity for CMU to do high-end research that matters.”