title: Refined clothespin relocation test and assessment of motion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Advancements in upper limb prosthesis design have focused on providing increased degrees of freedom for the end effector through multiple articulations of a prosthetic hand, wrist and elbow. Measuring improvement in patient function with these devices requires development of appropriate assessment tools.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study presents a refined clothespin relocation test for measuring performance and assessing compensatory motion between able-bodied subjects and subjects with upper limb impairments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comparative analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Trunk and head motions of 13 able-bodied subjects who performed the refined clothespin relocation test were compared to the motion of a transradial prosthesis user with a single degree of freedom hand.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were observable differences between the prosthesis user and the able-bodied group. The assessment used provided a clear indication of the differences in motion through analysis of compensatory motion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The refined clothespin relocation test provides additional benefits over the standard clothespin assessment and makes identification of compensatory motions easily identifiable to the researcher. While this article establishes the method for the new assessment, further validation will need to be performed with more users. Clinical relevance The refined test provides a more defined structure for the trajectory of the hand/terminal device than the standard protocol for the clothespin relocation test. This will help researchers interested in motion studies of limb segments to efficiently compare and analyse motion between able-bodied and prosthesis user groups.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME), University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussaini
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Engineering Science, University of Greenwich, Kent, UK.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kyberd
mesh_terms: D001186:Artificial Limbs; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D060726:Torso / Q000503:physiopathology*; D034941:Upper Extremity
keywords: Assessment; biomechanics; biomechanics of prosthetic/orthotic devices; motion analysis; outcome measure; prosthetics; rehabilitation; rehabilitation of prostheses users; transradial; upper limb prosthetics