Assessment of reach-to-grasp trajectories toward stationary objects

作者：Supuk Tamara^*; Bajd Tadej; Kurillo Gregorij

来源：Clinical Biomechanics, 2011, 26(8): 811-818.

DOI：10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2011.04.007

• Grasping movement phases
• Hand spatial trajectories
• Reach-to-grasp movement
• Rehabilitation

Background: Patients with pronounced spasticity reveal difficulties in hand opening during the approaching grasping phase. The general description and assessment procedures of reach-to-grasp movement for rehabilitation purposes is still not established. There is a necessity to develop a universal methodology to describe the approaching phase in grasping which would allow clinical evaluation of movement pathologies.
Methods: In the paper, the evaluation of approaching trajectories assessed during grasping by healthy subjects is described. The experiment, undertaken by 7 healthy volunteers, consisted of grasping three different stationary objects positioned in various poses by a robot. 3D recordings of the hand and fingertip trajectories were performed. The kinematic trajectories of the hand and finger markers were analysed in order to evaluate the reach-to-grasp movement.
Findings: The results of the kinematic analysis suggest that the reach-to-grasp movement of a healthy subject can be divided into 3 dominant phases (hand acceleration, hand deceleration, and final closure of the fingers).
Interpretation: The presented evaluation method can provide relevant information on the modalities the hand preshapes and approaches toward the object in order to obtain a stable grasp. The potential use of the approach for rehabilitation purposes is discussed.

• 出版日期2011-10