2026-09-19T21:37:05Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1003052026-06-06T00:49:28Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Peter Szolovits.
Driscoll, Joseph A., M. Eng. (Joseph Allen). Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
2015-12-16T15:54:38Z
2015-12-16T15:54:38Z
2015
2015
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100305
930713370
Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2015.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 77).
Outpatient physical therapy loses effectiveness due to long wait times in between clinical visits. PT Helper is a system designed to combat this disadvantage in three ways. PT Helper increases the effectiveness of the patient-clinician interview conducted at the beginning of each clinical visit by presenting the physical therapist with a correlated account of a patient's pain and activity level. PT Helper increases the likelihood of patients' performing their assigned exercises correctly by providing a medium of instruction that cannot be lost or discarded. Finally, PT Helper encourages patients to perform assigned exercises utilizing both positive and negative reinforcement. PT Helper was developed with feedback from clinical physical therapists and evaluated by former patients, current patients, and an athletic trainer. These evaluations support the hypotheses that PT Helper is a useful tool in both increasing the efficiency of the patient-clinician interview, and encouraging patients to perform their assigned exercises correctly.
by Joseph A. Driscoll.
M.Eng.
77 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Improving outpatient physical therapy
Thesis
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Publication
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<Abstract>Outpatient physical therapy loses effectiveness due to long wait times in between clinical visits. PT Helper is a system designed to combat this disadvantage in three ways. PT Helper increases the effectiveness of the patient-clinician interview conducted at the beginning of each clinical visit by presenting the physical therapist with a correlated account of a patient's pain and activity level. PT Helper increases the likelihood of patients' performing their assigned exercises correctly by providing a medium of instruction that cannot be lost or discarded. Finally, PT Helper encourages patients to perform assigned exercises utilizing both positive and negative reinforcement. PT Helper was developed with feedback from clinical physical therapists and evaluated by former patients, current patients, and an athletic trainer. These evaluations support the hypotheses that PT Helper is a useful tool in both increasing the efficiency of the patient-clinician interview, and encouraging patients to perform their assigned exercises correctly.</Abstract>
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