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Gamified musical breathing exercises for children affected by Duchenne Muscular Distrophy

Capra, A. (2018) Gamified musical breathing exercises for children affected by Duchenne Muscular Distrophy.

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Abstract:Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is the second most common gene disorder that affects predominantly male subjects. The most recent statistics report that, coupled with the Becker muscular dystrophy, it affects 1 out of 7250 male children aged between 5 and 24 years [30]. The disease consists in a progressive degeneration of muscle functionality, usually starting from the lower limbs and followed by the upper ones. Eventually, it affects the respiratory and cardiac muscles leading to a premature death in the late teen or early twenties of the subjects. To postpone the late stage respiratory decline, which eventually forces the children to be subjected to invasive operations such as tracheotomy or dependent on electronic equipment for ventilation and coughing assistance, a constant training in the early stage of the disease has proven to improve the life quality and prolong the life expectancy [38]. The current project aims to tackle this issue by making the system more engaging thanks to the addition of gamification and musical therapy elements. The evaluation phase involved children affected by DMD, and the results of this qualitative test suggested that the system has potential, especially thanks to the incorporation of the gamification aspects since they promote competitiveness and re-play. However, the role of music should be better integrated with a careful design of the levels.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Subject:54 computer science
Programme:Interaction Technology MSc (60030)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/76171
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