Development of a tool for driving evaluation by physical therapists for children with neuromuscular diseases

The MFM is a validated functional evaluation scale for the diagnosis and clinical monitoring of patients with neuromuscular disease. It anticipates the adaptation needs of patients, provides a common language for all professionals and assesses the effects of different therapeutic treatments. To improve the performance of measurements, the reproducibility of evaluations and patient participation, it is proposed to develop a tool, based on accessible technologies, for assisting therapists. Thus, this thesis is developed along four research axes: (1) the choice of a 3D motion sensor to replace the Microsoft Kinect TM sensor, (2) the development of software on a Tablet for the assessment of fine motor skills, (3) the proposal of a playful environment to motivate the young patients during the evaluations and (4) proposals to integrate the tool into the current practices of the therapists. This working context strongly suggests the use of a user-centered design approach (UCD), in which therapists and patients are asked to express their needs at each stage of the design process. As results, replacing the Kinect, the VicoVr sensor showed better performance in the context of MFM than the Intel® RealSense TM sensor. The automatic fine motor rating TabMe2 software developed obtained very good results for 3 items considered from the MFM. 7 fun animations for the MFM were developed according to an approach resulting from the development of Serious Games. Finally, an integration of all the tools developed has been proposed through a custom interface already familiar to physiotherapists, to facilitate their adherence.