Training grip control with a Fitts' paradigm: a pilot study in chronic stroke.
METHODS
A clinical measurement study.


OBJECTIVE
To test the applicability of Fitts' paradigm to grasping tasks in individuals with chronic stroke.


BACKGROUND
Fitts' Law relates the time of target achievement to task difficulty in repetitive motor tasks.


METHODS
Six male chronic stroke patients performed repetitive actuation of a grip force dynamometer with their affected hands for 12 sessions over four to six weeks.


RESULTS
Movement times followed Fitts' behavior with correlations of R(2)>0.8 for all subjects. Grasp control improved during training, as indicated by an average decrease in Fitts' slope of 26% at high difficulty levels (p<0.05), and decreases in the number of force corrections and in jerkiness, both at p<0.001 level.


CONCLUSIONS
The Fitts' grip force targeting protocol provides an objective standardized instrument for grasp proficiency quantification and a potentially efficacious platform for hand training for persons with stroke.


METHODS
N/A.
Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey; Human Performance and Movement Analysis Laboratory, Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, New Jersey. Electronic address: nkim@KesslerFoundation.net.
Nam Hun
NH
Kim
Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey; Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
Michael
M
Wininger
Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey.
William
W
Craelius
D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D053581:Muscle Strength Dynamometer; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation