New biomechanical model for clinical evaluation of the upper extremity motion in subjects with neurological disorders: an application case

Joan Lobo-Prat, Josep M. Font-Llagunes, Cristina Gómez-Pérez, Josep Medina-Casanovas and Rosa M. Angulo-Barroso

Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2014, vol. 17, issue 10, 1144-1156

Abstract: Cervical spinal cord injury and acquired brain injury commonly imply a reduction in the upper extremity function which complicates, or even constrains, the performance of basic activities of daily living. Neurological rehabilitation in specialised hospitals is a common treatment for patients with neurological disorders. This study presents a practical methodology for the objective and quantitative evaluation of the upper extremity motion during an activity of daily living of those subjects. A new biomechanical model (with 10 rigid segments and 20 degrees of freedom) was defined to carry out kinematic, dynamic and energetic analyses of the upper extremity motion during a reaching task through data acquired by an optoelectronic system. In contrast to previous upper extremity models, the present model includes the analysis of the grasp motion, which is considered as crucial by clinicians. In addition to the model, we describe a processing and analysis methodology designed to present relevant summaries of biomechanical information to rehabilitation specialists. As an application case, the method was tested on a total of four subjects: three healthy subjects and one pathological subject suffering from cervical spinal cord injury. The dedicated kinematic, dynamic and energetic analyses for this particular case are presented. The resulting set of biomechanical measurements provides valuable information for clinicians to achieve a thorough understanding of the upper extremity motion, and allows comparing the motion of healthy and pathological cases.

Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10255842.2012.738199 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:gcmbxx:v:17:y:2014:i:10:p:1144-1156

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/gcmb20

DOI: 10.1080/10255842.2012.738199

Access Statistics for this article

Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering is currently edited by Director of Biomaterials John Middleton

More articles in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().