Comparison of Upper Limb Virtual Outcome Measures and Control Accuracy to Physical Outcome Measures with a Prosthetic Device
Abstract
Objectives and Rationale: An estimated 8% of U.S. citizens live with an upper limb absence. Upper limb absence drastically reduces quality of life, negatively impacting everyday activities such as dressing, eating, personal hygiene, and social interactions. Most upper limb absence is caused by trauma and afflicts younger people that wish to return to work and continue an active lifestyle in their community. Thus, there is a great need to create upper limb prostheses that are easy to control, highly functional, and personalized to the user. However, methods to thoroughly test upper limb prosthesis control and function require that the components be purchased and the device be fit to the individual. This requires a lengthy time and financial commitment. Tools that can screen users’ suitability to use a device are currently limited, and there is a lack of validated methods to predict and assess function for use by clinicians and researchers. The objective of this study is to fill this gap in knowledge by comparing clinical performance measures in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment to performance with a physical upper limb prosthesis. We anticipate that upper limb performance in VR and upper limb performance with a physical prosthesis will be correlated with each other. This correlation between VR and physical prosthesis performance will provide necessary data to allow clinicians to use upper limb VR performance measurements to more accurately predict function and control with an upper limb physical prosthetic device, thus better personalizing upper limb prostheses for users. This study will also provide necessary data to support the use of a VR environment by researchers when testing new prosthesis control strategies before building a device. Who It Will Help and How: There is a large population of U.S. citizens, including Veterans and military Service Members, who live with limb absence and would benefit from improved prosthetic training and control methods. Although this study focuses on upper limb prosthetics, it would provide a platform of VR tools to evaluate new control methods and training protocols that could easily be translated to a wide variety of upper and lower limb prosthetics. Therefore, by using predictive VR training platforms, our study will help clinicians prescribe the most optimal prosthetic option for their patients. Potential Clinical Applications, Benefits, and Risks: In our proposed study to compare upper limb performance in VR to performance with a physical prosthesis, we expect to address the following: (1) evaluate the relationship between accuracy and performance in VR, (2) evaluate the impact of prosthetic weight on performance in VR, and (3) compare performance in VR to performance with a physical prosthetic device. These will address how accurately VR can predict the control of a physical upper limb prosthesis. The risks of this study are equivalent to the usual risks of upper limb prosthetic training and testing. Further, clinical staff will be present for tests and training, minimizing these risks throughout the study. Project Timeline: Participants in the study will be enrolled for up to 6 months. In our proposed 4-year timeline, we expect to enroll 28 participants, with 23 expected to fully complete the study. Upon completion, we will have obtained specific data on if VR outcomes accurately predict physical upper limb prosthetic control. The data obtained in this study will be used to move towards a controlled clinical trial for further evaluation. We plan to communicate results in peer-reviewed journal publications, at relevant conferences and symposiums, and on our websites and social media platforms. How the proposed research will benefit Service Members, Veterans, civilians, and caregivers: Many U.S. citizens who have lost a limb, including an upper limb, are Service Members or Veterans. As of June 2015, military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan had resulted
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2024
- Source ID
- HT94252310162
Entities
People
- Laura A Miller
Organizations
- Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
- United States Army