Upper limb assessment using a Virtual Peg Insertion Test

This paper presents the initial evaluation of a Virtual Peg Insertion Test developed to assess sensorimotor functions of arm and hand using an instrumented tool, virtual reality and haptic feedback. Nine performance parameters derived from kinematic and kinetic data were selected and compared between two groups of healthy subjects performing the task with the dominant and non-dominant hand, as well as with a group of chronic stroke subjects suffering from different levels of upper limb impairment. Results showed significantly smaller grasping forces applied by the stroke subjects compared to the healthy subjects. The grasping force profiles suggest a poor coordination between position and grasping for the stroke subjects, and the collision forces with the virtual board were found to be indicative of sensory deficits. These preliminary results suggest that the analyzed parameters could be valid indicators of impairment.

[1]  M. Levin.  Interjoint coordination during pointing movements is disrupted in spastic hemiparesis. , 1996, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[2]  Etienne Burdet,et al.  Quantization of human motions and learning of accurate movements , 1998, Biological Cybernetics.

[3]  Marko Munih,et al.  Upper limb motion analysis using haptic interface , 2001 .

[4]  J. Dewald,et al.  Abnormal joint torque patterns in the paretic upper limb of subjects with hemiparesis , 2001, Muscle & nerve.

[5]  N. Hogan,et al.  Movement Smoothness Changes during Stroke Recovery , 2002, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[6]  J. Dewald,et al.  Augmenting Clinical Evaluation of Hemiparetic Arm Movement With a Laboratory-Based Quantitative Measurement of Kinematics as a Function of Limb Loading , 2008, Neurorehabilitation and neural repair.

[7]  Chee Leong Teo,et al.  Post-stroke training of a pick and place activity in a virtual environment , 2008, 2008 Virtual Rehabilitation.

[8]  Chris Raymaekers,et al.  Arm training in Multiple Sclerosis using Phantom: Clinical relevance of robotic outcome measures , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[9]  Robert Riener,et al.  Assessment and training of synergies with an arm rehabilitation robot , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[10]  Etienne Burdet,et al.  Robotic assessment of hand function with the HapticKnob , 2010 .

[11]  Hannes Bleuler,et al.  Haptic/VR Assessment Tool for Fine Motor Control , 2010, EuroHaptics.