Methods for Measuring the Characteristics of Movements of Motor-Impaired Children

Abstract

An economical video-based movement monitoring system has been developed as a tool for the non-contact monitoring of the movement patterns of persons with impaired motor function. Measurements of movements in a plane normal to the camera may be made at a rate of 50 observations per second, with a positional resolution of 0.5 min in a field of view 675 mm wide by 500 mm deep. Trials were conducted on six children with cerebral palsy and 15 age-matched children with no motor impairment. Observations were made of the trajectories of a wrist-mounted marker while subjects performed prompted switch-activation tasks. Data were analyzed in an attempt to identify characteristics that would allow subjects' intentional movements to be distinguished and recognized despite the presence of involuntary movements. Regression analysis identified two significant trajectory characteristics, the average lateral position and average direction, that were suitable for predicting which of two switches a subject was intending to a...