A new method for evaluating kinesthetic acuity during haptic interaction

• Main Authors: Casadio, Maura, Squeri, V., De Santis, D., Zenzeri, J., Masia, L., Morasso, P.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Human anatomy and physiology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/107490; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/25608
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Although proprioceptive impairment is likely to affect in a significant manner the capacity of stroke patients to recover functionality of upper limb, clinical assessment methods currently in use are rather crude, with a low level of reliability and a limited capacity to discriminate the relevant features of this severe deficit. In the present paper, we describe a new technique based on robot technology, with the goal of providing a reliable, accurate, and quantitative evaluation of kinesthetic acuity, which can be integrated in robot therapy. The proposed technique, based on a pulsed assistance paradigm, has been evaluated on a group of healthy subjects.