ADHD Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Dataset

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs a person's ability to concentrate, manage impulses, and maintain attention. ADHD can have a wide range of repercussions, including academic and professional difficulties as well as relationship and emotional issues. Individuals with ADHD may also have handwriting impairments, such as poor fine motor coordination, legibility, and writing speed. These writing difficulties may be related to dysgraphia, a specific writing impairment that affects people with ADHD. Recognizing these hurdles and providing proper support is critical to assisting individuals affected in overcoming these obstacles and thriving despite them.  Medications are commonly used to treat ADHD symptoms, but they can lead to dependence and side effects.

 Advancements in science and technology have led to the introduction of innovative interventions for ADHD. Therefore, serious games that achieve the aim are implemented. The use of entertainment-based training has been beneficial in treating ADHD. According to research, major ADHD games are divided into two categories: diagnosis and therapy.

In the field of rehabilitation, BCI has emerged as a potentiel tool for neurorehabilitation, enabling tailored therapeutic treatments by translating brain impulses into physical motions. Interactive rehabilitation exercises can be a valuable means of encouraging brain plasticity and functional recovery for patients healing from neurological impairments. Specifically for the case of neurological rehabilitation, the change from clinical approaches to the use of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and Virtual Reality (VR) is crucial.

In the context of functional rehabilitation, the Leap Motion Controller2 (LMC) can be an effective device for developing personalized rehabilitation exercises. This advanced optical tracking system, combined with the Unity environment, allowed for accurate and non-intrusive data collection during the rehabilitation exercises. It uses its Infra-Red sensor and cameras to record hand and finger movements. The recorded data is then sent to a computer through an USB communication port. Using specialized software, like the Leap Motion Controller SDK, the data is processed to follow the human hand in real-time, visualizing the skeletal points of the fingers. As part of the data collection process, the participants' motor responses were recorded using this device. The data is then processed to extract relevant features for classification from the Leap Motion Controller's captured hand gesture data.  

A total of 50 schoolchildren participated in data collection. 50% of participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder whereas the others are Healthy control ones. For children without learning disorders, data were collected by their trained professionals at the childcare of Sfax-city, Tunisia. For children with learning disorders, data were gathered by trained professionals at both Sahloul Hospital University and Fattouma-Bourguiba Hospital University in Monastir-city, Tunisia. Children clinical cases were confirmed by a group of specialized doctors. The whole research was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Informed consent from a parent and/or legal guardian of each child was obtained.

The study began with familiarization sessions, including introductory instructions and brief training exercises, to help children feel comfortable with the gamified environment and the use of motion tracking technology. The experimental protocol included several interactive and gamified tasks, specifically designed to stimulate attention and motor control. Each data acquisition session was initiated at the beginning of a task and terminated once the child completed the interaction, ensuring uninterrupted and clean motion tracking throughout the activity.

The experimental protocol comprised four interactive gamified tasks; Apple game, Piano Games, Alphabet Games, and Buttons Game.  

Among these, the Alphabet Games incorporated a levelled structure where progression to subsequent stages introduced incremental difficulty, allowing for dynamic assessment of skill development. In order to compare performance, all tasks were administered to both children with ADHD and neurotypical controls. Data from each task was captured in real-time and stored as six individual .txt files per participant, corresponding to their engagement across the activities as mentioned in the capture below. Each child underwent 45-minute sessions conducted once weekly over a three- month period, ensuring consistent longitudinal tracking of progress. This structured timeline enabled detailed monitoring of advancements and challenges, tailored to each child’s developmental trajectory.

The integration of Leap Motion tracking with gamified tasks in this study provides valuable insights into the behavioral manifestations of ADHD during real-time interactions. The structured experimental design allows for a fine-grained comparison between children with ADHD and their healthy peers. Ultimately, this research contributes to the development of more adaptive, engaging, and effective rehabilitation tools for children with attention and behavioral difficulties.