| This study was designed to quantify the postural differences in upper limb amputees wearing prostheses using two different types of mechanical wrists: a flexible unit called the OMNI wrist and a friction wrist. For comparison, normative motion data was collected for children aged 4-13 years while performing four gross motor activities of daily living (N=20 for swing activity and N=19 for zipper activity). Prosthesis wearers performed the same protocol as the normative group (N=5 for the zipper activity and N=6 for the swing activity). If a prosthesis wearer wore an OMNI wrist, they were asked to perform the test twice: once with the OMNI wrist and once with the wrist locked to simulate a friction wrist.;The participants had reflective markers placed on their arms to form embedded coordinate systems. A kinematic analysis of the upper extremity using Euler angles was done to solve the relative orientations of the trunk, humerus, forearm, and hand for the left and right sides of the body. While the participants performed the activities of daily living, the positions of the markers were recorded using VICON M-Cam system at the University of New Brunswick.;The testing involved calculating the joint angles of the upper body using Euler angles. Descriptive statistics showed that there was good coordination between joint angles for the normative group for the swing activity. The joints angles for prosthesis wearers were not as coordinated. For the zipper activity, prosthesis wearers had significantly different shoulder heights as they positioned their dominant shoulder higher than their non dominant shoulder for a significantly longer time compared to the normative group. |
