Depth Sensor-Based Assessment of Reachable Work Space for Visualizing and Quantifying Paretic Upper Extremity Motor...

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation medicine
• Biomedical engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Quantitative assessment of upper extremity (UE) motor function is crucial for individuals recovering from hemiparetic stroke.
• A novel approach using a depth sensor to evaluate reachable workspace (RWS) has been developed to visualize and quantify paretic UE motor function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the characteristics of RWS measurements.
• To evaluate the validity, reliability, measurement error, and responsiveness of RWS in hemiparetic stroke patients.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, repeated-measures, observational study involving 58 participants with stroke.
• RWS was measured for both paretic and nonparetic UEs, with the RWS ratio calculated.
• Concurrent validity was assessed against the Fugl-Meyer Assessment UE motor score; reliability and responsiveness were evaluated through repeated measures and pre/post-training assessments.

Main Results:

• The RWS demonstrated significant differences in specific areas (lower vs. upper, medial-lower vs. lateral-lower).
• The RWS ratio showed a high correlation with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (r=0.81), indicating strong concurrent validity.
• Excellent intrarater reliability (ICC=0.94) and large responsiveness (SRM=0.83) were observed, with a minimal detectable change of 16.6 for the RWS ratio.

Conclusions:

• The RWS assessment using depth sensing is a valid, reliable, and responsive tool for quantifying paretic UE motor function in hemiparetic stroke.
• This depth sensor-based RWS evaluation is practical for clinical settings to monitor stroke recovery.