http://jneuroengrehab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12984-015-0103-8
- Nitin Seth,
- Denise Johnson,
- Graham W. Taylor,
- O. Brian Allen and
- Hussein A. AbdullahEmail author
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation201512:109
DOI: 10.1186/s12984-015-0103-8
© Seth et al. 2015
Received: 13 February 2015
Accepted: 20 November 2015
Published: 2 December 2015
Abstract
Background
Spasticity is a motor disorder that
causes significant disability and impairs function. There are no
definitive parameters that assess spasticity and there is no universally
accepted definition. Spasticity evaluation is important in determining
stages of recovery. It can determine treatment effectiveness as well as
how treatment should proceed. This paper presents a novel cross
sectional robotic pilot study for the primary purpose of assessment. The
system collects force and position data to quantify spasticity through
similar motions of the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) assessment in the
Sagittal plane. Validity of the system is determined based on its
ability to measure velocity dependent resistance.
Methods
Forty individuals with Acquired Brain
Injury (ABI) and 45 healthy individuals participated in a robotic pilot
study. A linear regression model was applied to determine the effect an
ABI has on force data obtained through the robotic system in an effort
to validate it. Parameters from the model were compared for both groups.
Two techniques were performed in an attempt to classify between healthy
and patients. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) with k-nearest neighbour (KNN)
classification is compared to a time-series algorithm using position
and force data in a linear discriminant analysis (LDA).
Results
The system is capable of detecting a velocity dependent resistance (p<0.05).
Differences were found between healthy individuals and those with MAS 0
who are considered to be healthy. DTW with KNN is shown to improve
classification between healthy and patients by approximately 20 % compared to that of an LDA.
Conclusions
Quantitative methods of spasticity
evaluation demonstrate that differences can be observed between healthy
individuals and those with MAS of 0 who are often clinically considered
to be healthy. Exploiting the time-series nature of the collected data
demonstrates that position and force together are an accurate predictor
of patient health.
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