Evaluation of the JACO robotic arm: Clinico-economic study for powered wheelchair users with upper-extremity disabilities

TLDR

Daily living tasks such as picking up glasses or opening doors become insurmountable for people with upper‑extremity disabilities, and existing assistive devices often lack sufficient functionality, prompting interest in robotics for greater capability. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a new joystick‑controlled seven‑degree‑of‑freedom robotic manipulator and to assess its potential economic benefits. Thirty‑one participants used the JACO arm in a clinico‑economic study to test task performance and gather data for economic modeling. Results showed that most participants succeeded on the first attempt, the economic model projected a 41 % reduction in caregiving time, and the data provide valuable information for users, families, and caregivers.

Abstract

Many activities of daily living, such as picking up glasses, holding a fork or opening a door, which most people do without thinking, can become insurmountable for people who have upper extremity disabilities. The alternative to asking for human help is to use some assistive devices to compensate their loss of mobility; however, many of those devices are limited in terms of functionality. Robotics may provide a better approach for the development of assistive devices, by allowing greater functionality. In this paper, we present results of a study (n=31) which objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of a new joystick-controlled seven-degree of freedom robotic manipulator and assess its potential economic benefits. Results show that JACO is easy to use as the majority of the participants were able to accomplish the testing tasks on their first attempt. The economic model results inferred that the use of the JACO arm system could potentially reduce caregiving time by 41%. These study results are expected to provide valuable data for interested parties, such as individuals with disabilities, their family or caregivers.