By the year 2050, it is expected that 3.6 million people will have upper limb amputations. Despite the increase in functionality provided by prostheses, a recent study found that 45% of children with upper limb deficiencies reject their prosthetic device. There is a critical need to determine quantitative parameters to assess prosthesis usage and movement variability to provide the fundamental information required to objectively quantify prosthesis usage and associated benefits. Additionally, the literature which describes training paradigms and behavioral interventions for children with congenital upper limb deficiencies is sparse. Training paradigms for acquired amputees and stroke survivors focus on inter-limb transfer paradigms to transfer motor repertoires from the non-affected limb to the affected limb. This dynamic approach provides useful tools for the assessment of limb coordination and associated variability especially when examining inter-limb coordination and gross manual dexterity. Thus, the purpose of this project is to assess temporal synchrony of hand movement and gross manual dexterity after completing an 8-week home intervention. We hypothesized that bimanual coordination will significantly increase temporal synchrony of hand movement and there will be an increase in unilateral gross manual dexterity after the completion of an 8-week home intervention.
Specific aim #1 : Determine the differences temporal synchrony of hand movement and gross manual dexterity in children with unilateral congenital partial limb loss and a control group. We will analyze a subgroup of 10 research participants already enrolled in the parent grant. Specifically, two groups of children between 7 and 12 years of age.; children with unilateral congenital upper-limb reductions (n=5) and an age-and sex-matched control group of typically developing children (n=5).
Specific aim #2 : Determine changes in temporal synchrony of hand movement and gross manual dexterity after an 8-week home intervention. Research participants will be asked to attend a total of 3 sessions (one measurement session, and two testing sessions) following the protocol of the parent grant. Children will attend an initial measurement session to take a 3D scan of the affected and non-affected upper limbs as well as several anthropometric measurements. During this session, three pictures of the upper limbs will be taken which will also be used to verify the fit the prostheses in a process previously validated by our research team.
Training paradigms for acquired amputees and stroke survivors focus on inter-limb transfer paradigms to transfer motor repertoires from the non-affected limb to the affected limb. This dynamic approach provides useful tools for the assessment of limb coordination and associated variability especially when examining inter-limb coordination and gross manual dexterity. Thus, the purpose of this project is to assess temporal synchrony of hand movement and gross manual dexterity after completing an 8-week home intervention. We hypothesized that bimanual coordination will significantly increase temporal synchrony of hand movement and there will be an increase in unilateral gross manual dexterity after the completion of an 8-week home intervention.
