Objective and quantitative assessment methodology of hand functions for rehabilitation

The objective of this work is the study and analysis of the fundamental issues that constitute the development of a hand rehabilitation system by making use of mechanisms with systematic methodology for objective and quantitative assessment for patients with motor weakness, such as spinal cord injury (SCI) and post-stroke. The goal of the work is to use these assessment/measurement results efficiently, so that the system can predict the intention to perform certain movement and act on the patient´s hand. The clinical engineering research aspects are discussed and presented, and the objective and quantitative assessment/evaluation methodology (with sEMG, ROM, grip/pinch force and clinical outcome measures) has been proposed for the task-based hand rehabilitation system to improve their functional ability of hand for functional activities of daily living (ADL) and rehabilitation exercises. The initial results for each category are also illustrated in this paper. Finally, the preliminary works and future research are concluded.