AFFECTED MUSCLES RETAIN DEXTROUS MOTOR CAPABILITIES IN CHILDREN BORN WITH UPPER-LIMB DEFICIENCIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57922/mec.2491Abstract
Children with Unilateral Congenital Below-Elbow Deficiencies (born without a hand, UCBED) have a high rate of prosthetic abandonment, pointing to unresolved challenges that may be distinct from those faced by adults with limb loss. There is limited knowledge of the motor control these children have over their affected muscles, a highly relevant question for effective dextrous prosthetic control. Our research aims to measure the extent of volitional muscle activation that exists in the residuum when children attempt moving their missing hand, with the goal of creating highly functional pediatric-specific prosthetic devices. In this work, we recruited 28 pediatric UCBED patients across four Shriners Hospital locations. We measured muscle activity using ultrasound imaging and surface electromyography while children attempted 10 missing-hand movements, then used machine learning to analyze the patterns of the affected and unaffected sides. Our algorithms predicted hand movements from residual muscle activity at over 80% accuracy in most cases, and well above chance in all participants. This indicates inherent muscular control which may be leveraged to develop more functional prosthetic devices tailored towards pediatric UCBED patients.
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Published
2024-08-15
How to Cite
[1]
E. Winslow, “AFFECTED MUSCLES RETAIN DEXTROUS MOTOR CAPABILITIES IN CHILDREN BORN WITH UPPER-LIMB DEFICIENCIES”, MEC Symposium, Aug. 2024.
Conference Proceedings Volume
Section
Clinical Research Studies
