Gaming rehabilitation for ankle injuries : a feasibility study using the DANU Sports smart sock

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Nagle, Abbie and Jinphol, Apichaya and Penev, Victor and Teixeira, Jade and Forsyth, Lauren (2025) Gaming rehabilitation for ankle injuries : a feasibility study using the DANU Sports smart sock. In: BioMedEng25, 2025-09-04 - 2025-09-05, University of Strathclyde.

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Abstract

Introduction Rehabilitation is effective at reducing risk of reinjury, which increases nine-fold following a lateral ankle sprain [1]. However, no standardised protocols exist for return to activity and completion rates remain low [2][3]. Gamification has been an effective solution to enhance rehabilitation. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of integrating the DANU Sports smart sock into a gaming system for the rehabilitation of ankle sprains. Methodology The data acquisition protocol on the DANU Bluetooth module was customised to extract real-time data. Three games were developed and integrated with this sensor data. Game control was achieved through movement capture with the IMU sensor on the lateral malleolus and the capacitive pressure sensors below the soles. Twenty healthy participants (age: 22.6±1.7; 12F/8M) tested the game functionality during a single laboratory session. Balance was assessed using the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) before and after a period of game play. A user satisfaction survey assessed perceived motivations and engagement, as well as feedback of the overall gaming system. Results & Discussion The DANU Sports’ system was successfully integrated as a game controller. No adverse events were reported during testing. Acute effects of the balance training resulted in improved BESS scores (pre: 7.50±2.11, post: 6.65±2.29, p<0.05) and improved perceived stability. Participants reported high comfort and low movement restriction of the smart sock with 85% finding the games enjoyable/extremely enjoyable. Conclusions The study supports the feasibility of rehabilitation gaming in a healthy population using the DANU Sports system. Further testing is warranted in a population following an ankle sprain.

ORCID iDs

Nagle, Abbie, Jinphol, Apichaya, Penev, Victor, Teixeira, Jade and Forsyth, Lauren ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9520-8984;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)