title: A motion control function evaluation system employing a pen tablet.
abstract: We have developed a new pen tablet based system for evaluation of hand motion control function as influenced by brain disease. The system consists of a laptop computer and a pen tablet data entry device. The pen tablet is placed in front of the subject who is instructed to tap the pen at a constant location. When the subject taps the pen, the tablet transfers the pen position to the laptop computer. The computer then saves the tap position, along with the time elapsed between each tap. The subject is instructed to tap 50 times with each hand with the eyes closed. The absolute distance moved between each two successive tap positions is detected. Tapping period, total tapping time and total distance moved are also calculated. Measurements were performed on ten normal subjects and three subjects with cerebral infarction. The results indicate that cerebral infarction subjects' average total tap point distance moved and absolute distance moved are greater than in the normal subjects. Conversely, all subjects in both groups produced only normal variations in tapping period and total tapping time. Our system can therefore quantitatively evaluate hand motion control function by the total and absolute distance moved.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Electronics, Hiroshima Inst. of Technology, Hiroshima 731-5193, Japan.
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonezawa
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maki
authors.forename: Hidekuni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Ishio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sata
authors.forename: Naonobu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: W Morton
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Caldwell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016287:Computer Peripherals; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014584:User-Computer Interface