Don Yungher1, William Craelius. 1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08901, USA. don.yungher@gmail.com
Abstract
PURPOSE: We developed a gesture recognition biofeedback (GRB) device for improving fine motor function in persons with brain injury using surface muscle pressures of the forearm to provide real-time visual biofeedback. The GRB apparatus is easy to don by moderately impaired users and does not require precise placement of sensors. METHOD: The efficacy of GRB training with each subject was assessed by comparing its effectiveness against standard repetitive training without feedback. The outcome was measured using a nine-hole peg test (HPT) administered before and after each condition, in a cross-over study design. RESULTS: GRB was shown to be effective for short-term improvement of fine motor function of 12 impaired participants, reducing their average time to completion of the HPT by 15.5% (S.D. 7.14%). In a subset of impaired subjects, this effect was significant in comparison to similar training without biofeedback (p < 0.05). Control subjects experienced negligible change in HPT time. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study of a heterogeneous group shows that GRB may offer a simple means to help impaired users re-learn specified manual tasks.
PURPOSE: We developed a gesture recognition biofeedback (GRB) device for improving fine motor function in persons with brain injury using surface muscle pressures of the forearm to provide real-time visual biofeedback. The GRB apparatus is easy to don by moderately impaired users and does not require precise placement of sensors. METHOD: The efficacy of GRB training with each subject was assessed by comparing its effectiveness against standard repetitive training without feedback. The outcome was measured using a nine-hole peg test (HPT) administered before and after each condition, in a cross-over study design. RESULTS: GRB was shown to be effective for short-term improvement of fine motor function of 12 impaired participants, reducing their average time to completion of the HPT by 15.5% (S.D. 7.14%). In a subset of impaired subjects, this effect was significant in comparison to similar training without biofeedback (p < 0.05). Control subjects experienced negligible change in HPT time. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study of a heterogeneous group shows that GRB may offer a simple means to help impaired users re-learn specified manual tasks.
Authors: Kamal M Yakoub; David J Davies; Zhangjie Su; Conor Bentley; Mario Forcione; Emma Toman; Douglas Hammond; Callum N Watson; Jon Bishop; Lauren Cooper; Aron K Barbey; Vijay Sawlani; Valentina Di Pietro; Michael J Grey; Antonio Belli Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2019-07-04 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Claudio Castellini; Panagiotis Artemiadis; Michael Wininger; Arash Ajoudani; Merkur Alimusaj; Antonio Bicchi; Barbara Caputo; William Craelius; Strahinja Dosen; Kevin Englehart; Dario Farina; Arjan Gijsberts; Sasha B Godfrey; Levi Hargrove; Mark Ison; Todd Kuiken; Marko Marković; Patrick M Pilarski; Rüdiger Rupp; Erik Scheme Journal: Front Neurorobot Date: 2014-08-15 Impact factor: 2.650