Facial and Body Motion Technology and Stroke

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Stroke

Treatments: Other: Simulated home environment visit

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04592627

HSC-SN-20-0686

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to customize privacy protected facial expression and body motion tracking for use in the home environment by stroke survivor-informal caregiver dyads by investigating within a simulated home environment, background variability,possible occlusions, privacy considerations, and the motor weaknesses, gait impairments, and facial expressions of stroke survivors and to determine the acceptability of the customized facial expression and body motion technology in stroke survivors and their informal caregivers.

Full description

Stroke is a leading cause of disability. Most stroke survivors are discharged home after hospitalization and receive care from informal caregivers (e.g., unpaid spouses) who are often unprepared for the role. Stroke survivorship is an exemplar of a chronic condition that detracts from the affected individual and caregiver's capacity to live well within the home (e.g., psychosocial distress). Early identification of psychosocial distress is likely to lead to timely interventions and, subsequently, decreases in associated morbidity, mortality, and disability. Yet, only a minority of survivors are properly identified and treated for psychosocial distress, and caregivers are primarily forgotten. In-home, objective measures to identify psychosocial distress are lacking. Using facial expression and body motion technology by extracting facial characteristics and body joints (skeletal graph) known to be associated with psychosocial distress (e.g., frowning) provides new opportunities to support in-home telemonitoring. To accommodate real-world, post-stroke home environments, the technology needs to be customized to an in-home environment. Toward this end, the investigators must consider background variability, possible occlusions, privacy concerns, and stroke survivor motor weaknesses, gait impairments, and facial paralysis. Objectives: The primary objectives are to customize facial expression and body motion technology and examine the acceptability of the technology through a study of 6 stroke survivor-informal caregiver dyads within a simulated home environment. The project will serve as a necessary step to amass critical information to design future trials using facial expression and body motion technology. The ultimate goal is to improve psychosocial well-being for those aging at home.

Enrollment: 7 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• can read, write, and speak English
• are willing and able to provide informed consent
• Informal caregivers must live in the home with the stroke survivor and be unpaid for their role
• Stroke survivors must have some degree of facial and limb weakness and a Modified Rankin Scale (mRS)13 score between 1 and 3.

Exclusion criteria

• stroke survivors currently reside outside of the home and are wheelchair bound.

Trial design

7 participants in 1 patient group

Simulated home environment visit with the dyad participants

Description:

The cohort consists of six stroke survivor-informal caregiver (e.g., spouse or family member) dyads. Individual dyads will participate in the simulated home environment visit while the investigative team collects the data.

Treatment:

Other: Simulated home environment visit