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| Credit: Microsoft Research |
Microsoft researchers have developed a handheld device that gives physical-therapy patients a virtual view beneath the skin to see what an injury looks like inside. The hope is that this will make them a little more eager to keep doing their therapies.
"People are notoriously bad at sticking to their physical therapy regimens," says Amy Karlson, of Microsoft Research's Computational User Experiences Group in Redmond, Washington. Between 30 and 50 percent of patients with chronic conditions fail to comply with their recommended therapies, she says. As a result, conditions can take longer to heal or can get even worse. Karlson says the more information that patients have about their injuries, the more likely they are to comply with physical therapy regimens. The new tool, called AnatOnMe, aims to give patients that extra bit of information. The device projects an image of the underlying bone structure, muscle tissue, tendons, or nerves onto the skin, giving patients a better understanding of the injury, and of what they need to do to help the healing process, says Karlson. Article
