Use of cinematic analysis of upper extremity movements in cerebral palsied children for predicting optimal control interface size on an expanded keyboard

This study focuses on a method of cinematic analysis of upper extremity (UE) movement in cerebral palsied (CP) children between the ages of 4 and 18 years of age. Fifteen CP children were used with five each in the categories of mild, moderate, and severe levels of UE movement impairment based on clinical judgement. In addition, five normal children were used in order to establish a baseline of normal performance. The children were asked to perform a sequence of tasks on a lightboard designed to emulate the expanded keyboard for the computer. Each child was tested for time, accuracy, and movement efficiency on three different size activation surfaces on the lightboard. The children were asked to perform three trials on each of the three interface sizes for a total of nine tdals. While they were performing the task, the subjects were videotaped from three angles simultaneously using a standard VHS camera and two mirrors. The videotapes were used to record the movements and make time lapsed drawings. An Anova with repeated measures was used for data analysis with a tail probability used to establish the level of significance. Data analysis revealed a linear trend within each group across time, accuracy, and interface size. There is a significant difference between the groups in time, accuracy, and movement; however there is no significant difference in performance on the three interface sizes within each group.