Quantitative assessment of motor deficit with an intelligent key Object: A Pilot Study

Conventional assessment of sensorimotor functions is carried out using standard clinical scales which are subjective and insufficiently sensitive to changes in motor performance. Alternatively, sensor based systems offer a quantitative approach to motor assessment. We have designed a set of low cost, easy to use instrumented objects to assess a subject's performance during skilled tasks. In this pilot study we discuss the design of one object, the intelligent key, and describe how it can be used to assess a subject's performance during fine manipulation tasks using the proposed metrics and techniques. Three subjects with motor disability and one healthy subject participated in this study. Subjects performed insertion and rotation tasks that mimic the skills used in day to day key manipulation. A threshold detector algorithm based on Teager Energy Operator was applied to the object acceleration signal to quantify time spent struggling with the task and Spectral Arc Length was used to assess the smoothness of pronation/supination. Overall, the results indicate that increased difficulty in task performance correlates with decreased smoothness in task performance.