A joint project between the Kinesiology Department at Université de Montréal and the Physiotherapy Technology programs at Dawson and Cégep Marie-Victorin to develop intelligent technology in the field is making its mark with the development of tools, including smartphone apps, for use in therapy.

The project, acronym TEKPHY, has been developing a tool for balance using the Wii Balance Board. Primarily, this consists of a form (either doughnut, star or infinity sign) on the screen and the client must move the cursor around the form keeping inside the lines within a certain time frame. The cursor is moved by shifting their center of gravity while standing on the Wii Balance Board. The levels of difficulty and the parameters can be customised to the client’s ability.

Sharon Patricia Clegg, along with two members of the team presented a project poster that won first place at the Ordre professionnel de la physiothérapie du Québec conference in Québec City in November.

For the past two years, the team has been developing documents and “mini labs” involving the use of available apps for smartphones such as “Goniometer Records” and “Tiltmeter”. There has also been research into the use of Kinect for rehabilitation purposes. Games such as Tetris can be played using arm movements. They have developed a game based on Tetris (Tektris) using the Wii balance and/or Kinect to move the blocks. Tekphy has two additional projects under development using Wii Balance Board and Kinect. One game assesses a client’s ability to perform a biomechanically correct squat (Squatphy). The second game works to improve a client’s motor control by placing stars in the sky (Reachphy).

Three Dawson students worked as interns last summer as part of the research team at Tekphy, and two students continued part time in the Fall 2015 semester.

Sharon and the team also presented at the Kinesium conference at Université de Montréal in late November, and thanks to the support of the SSAP, they were able to bring all third-year Physical Rehabilitation students to the conference. (Note: the Ministry has renamed the program for Fall 2016 Physiotherapy Technology.)

Plans in 2016 include more exposure of the project, including applyng to the CCDMD to make video capsules in English and French, and applying to the RCCFC (Réseau des cégeps et collèges francophones du Canada). The challenge will be finding additional funding for the Tekphy project to continue past 2016. The project is currently looking for a business partner to join the team, which will then enable them to apply for a variety of government funding.

The project has even garnered coverage on the French-language Radio-Canada network.

Updates on the project will be posted on their Facebook page.