Training grip control with a Fitts' paradigm: a pilot study in chronic stroke

Nam Hun Kim; Michael Wininger; William Craelius

doi:10.1016/j.jht.2009.10.004

Training grip control with a Fitts' paradigm: a pilot study in chronic stroke

J Hand Ther. 2010 Jan-Mar;23(1):63-72. doi: 10.1016/j.jht.2009.10.004.

Authors

Nam Hun Kim¹, Michael Wininger², William Craelius³

Affiliations

¹ Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey; Human Performance and Movement Analysis Laboratory, Kessler Foundation Research Center, West Orange, New Jersey. Electronic address: nkim@KesslerFoundation.net.
² Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey; Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
³ Rutgers University Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey.

PMID: 20142007
DOI: 10.1016/j.jht.2009.10.004

Abstract

Study design: A clinical measurement study.

Purpose: To test the applicability of Fitts' paradigm to grasping tasks in individuals with chronic stroke.

Introduction: Fitts' Law relates the time of target achievement to task difficulty in repetitive motor tasks.

Methods: Six male chronic stroke patients performed repetitive actuation of a grip force dynamometer with their affected hands for 12 sessions over four to six weeks.

Results: Movement times followed Fitts' behavior with correlations of R(2)>0.8 for all subjects. Grasp control improved during training, as indicated by an average decrease in Fitts' slope of 26% at high difficulty levels (p<0.05), and decreases in the number of force corrections and in jerkiness, both at p<0.001 level.

Conclusions: The Fitts' grip force targeting protocol provides an objective standardized instrument for grasp proficiency quantification and a potentially efficacious platform for hand training for persons with stroke.

Level of evidence: N/A.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Hand Strength / physiology*
Humans
Isometric Contraction / physiology
Male
Middle Aged
Models, Biological
Muscle Strength Dynamometer
Pilot Projects
Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
Stroke / physiopathology*
Stroke Rehabilitation*