Sensors, Vol. 21, Pages 5926: Proof-of-Concept of a Sensor-Based Evaluation Method for Better Sensitivity of Upper-Extremity Motor Function Assessment

Sensors, Vol. 21, Pages 5926: Proof-of-Concept of a Sensor-Based Evaluation Method for Better Sensitivity of Upper-Extremity Motor Function Assessment Sensors doi: 10.3390/s21175926 Authors: Seung-Hee Lee Ye-Ji Hwang Hwang-Jae Lee Yun-Hee Kim Matjaž Ogrinc Etienne Burdet Jong-Hyun Kim In rehabilitation, the Fugl–Meyer assessment (FMA) is a typical clinical instrument to assess upper-extremity motor function of stroke patients, but it cannot measure fine changes of motor function (both in recovery and deterioration) due to its limited sensitivity. This paper introduces a sensor-based automated FMA system that addresses this limitation with a continuous rating algorithm. The system consists of a depth sensor (Kinect V2) and an algorithm to rate the continuous FM scale based on fuzzy inference. Using a binary logic based classification method developed from a linguistic scoring guideline of FMA, we designed fuzzy input/output variables, fuzzy rules, membership functions, and a defuzzification method for several representative FMA tests. A pilot trial with nine stroke patients was performed to test the feasibility of the proposed approach. The continuous FM scale from the proposed algorithm exhibited a high correlation with the clinician rated scores and the results showed the possibility of more sensitive upper-extremity motor function assessment.
Source: Sensors - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research