title: Assessing upper extremity motor function in practice of virtual activities of daily living.
abstract: A study was conducted to investigate the criterion validity of measures of upper extremity (UE) motor function derived during practice of virtual activities of daily living (ADLs). Fourteen hemiparetic stroke patients employed a Virtual Occupational Therapy Assistant (VOTA), consisting of a high-fidelity virtual world and a Kinect™ sensor, in four sessions of approximately one hour in duration. An unscented Kalman Filter-based human motion tracking algorithm estimated UE joint kinematics in real-time during performance of virtual ADL activities, enabling both animation of the user's avatar and automated generation of metrics related to speed and smoothness of motion. These metrics, aggregated over discrete sub-task elements during performance of virtual ADLs, were compared to scores from an established assessment of UE motor performance, the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). Spearman's rank correlation analysis indicates a moderate correlation between VOTA-derived metrics and the time-based WMFT assessments, supporting the criterion validity of VOTA measures as a means of tracking patient progress during an UE rehabilitation program that includes practice of virtual ADLs.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lichter
authors.forename: Eileen T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Krepkovich
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellington
authors.forename: Marga
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Diamond
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D003943:Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement; D010291:Paresis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014584:User-Computer Interface