Quantitative motor assessment of upperlimb after unilateral stroke: A preliminary feasibility study with H-Man, a planar robot

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a preliminary assessment study to investigate baseline performance measures and differences between control and stroke participants during reaching tasks in three directions. H-Man, planar robot is, used for this purpose. Thirteen healthy and two chronic stroke patients with upper limb motor impairment participated in the study. Assessment of performance was made through three task parameters (smoothness of movement, peak velocity, and time to peak velocity). The results from healthy subjects indicate no significant difference between different directions, however significant differences are observed in stroke participants across different directions for smoothness measure (Spectral Arc Length). All the three measures show significant differences between control and Stroke participants for corresponding directions.