| Rehabilitation of grasp following brain injury remains a challenge that is seldom completely successful. Current biofeedback protocols for fine motor rehabilitation are generally limited to single-muscle or single-joint movements, and their application to Activities of Daily Living (ADL) is constrained by the simplicity of motions feasible during training. Herein, a novel biofeedback device, termed Proprioception-Augmenting and Measurement Interface (PAMI) was used to train thumb-index opposition, a task relevant to ADL. PAMI uses a novel method to non-invasively measure muscle forces in the arm during grasp, using Surface Muscle Pressure (SMP). The efficacy of PAMI training was assessed using a standard therapeutic test, the 9-hole peg test. In addition, the neural control features of grasp were examined using motor variance analysis. Features of the PAMI signal were extracted from recorded signals and compared to clarify the mechanisms by which PAMI aids rehabilitation. Variability analysis of recorded SMP signals measured the effect of PAMI biofeedback on the coordination of muscle activity in impaired and healthy persons. Training with the PAMI device was shown to be effective in the short-term improvement of fine motor function for brain injured participants (p<.05), and the kinesiological mechanisms for this change were explored in terms of coordinated muscle activity. |
