A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke

Coordinated reaching and grasping movements may be impaired in patients with poststroke hemiplegia. Patients frequently adopt compensatory strategies, which require investigation. This pilot study used kinematic parameters to examine compensatory strategies by assessing the reach-to-grasp-pen moveme...

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Main Authors: Qiurong Xie, Bo Sheng, Jia Huang, Qi Zhang, Yanxin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Applied Bionics and Biomechanics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/6933043
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author Qiurong Xie
Bo Sheng
Jia Huang
Qi Zhang
Yanxin Zhang
author_facet Qiurong Xie
Bo Sheng
Jia Huang
Qi Zhang
Yanxin Zhang
author_sort Qiurong Xie
collection DOAJ
description Coordinated reaching and grasping movements may be impaired in patients with poststroke hemiplegia. Patients frequently adopt compensatory strategies, which require investigation. This pilot study used kinematic parameters to examine compensatory strategies by assessing the reach-to-grasp-pen movements in patients with stroke and unaffected participants. Twelve patients with stroke with mild impairment (45.16 ± 12.62 years, 2.41 ± 1.97 months), twelve with moderate impairment (50.41 ± 12.92 years, 3.83 ± 3.58 months), and ten healthy individuals (20.6 ± 0.69 years) performed a reach-to-grasp-pen task. Kinematics parameters of upper limb and fingers, such as movement time, number of movement units, index of curvature, spectral arc length, trunk forward transition, trunk lateral transition, elbow extension, shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, trunk rotation, arm-plane angle, the joint angles of interphalangeal joints of the thumb, index, middle, ring, and little fingers were examined in the study. These parameters were evaluated with two Microsoft Azure Kinect and Leap Motion, which belong to markerless motion capture systems. Patients with stroke showed longer reaching movement time, less smooth movement trajectories, and more trunk rotation (P<0.05). In patients with stroke, the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) of the thumb were flexed in the starting position; the MCP and PIP joints of the index finger in the stroke group were more extended during pen grasp; the range of motion of the MCP of the middle finger and the PIP joints of the middle, ring, and little fingers became greater, suggesting a larger peak aperture (P<0.05). The more significant extension was observed in the index finger at the end of the grasp, suggesting inadequate flexion (P<0.05). In clinical practice, the reach-to-grasp-pen task using markless sensing technology can effectively distinguish patients with stroke from healthy individuals and evaluate the recovery and compensation strategies of upper limb and hand functions. It can potentially become an evaluation tool in hospital and community scenes. Accurate identification of abnormal trunk, arm, and finger strategies is crucial for therapists to develop targeted upper limb treatment methods and evaluate treatment effects.
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spelling doaj-art-3949db76db024abfb55ad9c6122ded002025-08-20T03:18:46ZengWileyApplied Bionics and Biomechanics1754-21032022-01-01202210.1155/2022/6933043A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with StrokeQiurong Xie0Bo Sheng1Jia Huang2Qi Zhang3Yanxin Zhang4College of Rehabilitation MedicineSchool of Mechatronic Engineering and AutomationCollege of Rehabilitation MedicineCollege of Rehabilitation MedicineKey Laboratory of Orthopedics & Traumatology of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Rehabilitation (Fujian University of TCM)Coordinated reaching and grasping movements may be impaired in patients with poststroke hemiplegia. Patients frequently adopt compensatory strategies, which require investigation. This pilot study used kinematic parameters to examine compensatory strategies by assessing the reach-to-grasp-pen movements in patients with stroke and unaffected participants. Twelve patients with stroke with mild impairment (45.16 ± 12.62 years, 2.41 ± 1.97 months), twelve with moderate impairment (50.41 ± 12.92 years, 3.83 ± 3.58 months), and ten healthy individuals (20.6 ± 0.69 years) performed a reach-to-grasp-pen task. Kinematics parameters of upper limb and fingers, such as movement time, number of movement units, index of curvature, spectral arc length, trunk forward transition, trunk lateral transition, elbow extension, shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, trunk rotation, arm-plane angle, the joint angles of interphalangeal joints of the thumb, index, middle, ring, and little fingers were examined in the study. These parameters were evaluated with two Microsoft Azure Kinect and Leap Motion, which belong to markerless motion capture systems. Patients with stroke showed longer reaching movement time, less smooth movement trajectories, and more trunk rotation (P<0.05). In patients with stroke, the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) of the thumb were flexed in the starting position; the MCP and PIP joints of the index finger in the stroke group were more extended during pen grasp; the range of motion of the MCP of the middle finger and the PIP joints of the middle, ring, and little fingers became greater, suggesting a larger peak aperture (P<0.05). The more significant extension was observed in the index finger at the end of the grasp, suggesting inadequate flexion (P<0.05). In clinical practice, the reach-to-grasp-pen task using markless sensing technology can effectively distinguish patients with stroke from healthy individuals and evaluate the recovery and compensation strategies of upper limb and hand functions. It can potentially become an evaluation tool in hospital and community scenes. Accurate identification of abnormal trunk, arm, and finger strategies is crucial for therapists to develop targeted upper limb treatment methods and evaluate treatment effects.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/6933043
spellingShingle Qiurong Xie
Bo Sheng
Jia Huang
Qi Zhang
Yanxin Zhang
A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
Applied Bionics and Biomechanics
title A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
title_full A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
title_fullStr A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
title_full_unstemmed A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
title_short A Pilot Study of Compensatory Strategies for Reach-to-Grasp-Pen in Patients with Stroke
title_sort pilot study of compensatory strategies for reach to grasp pen in patients with stroke
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/6933043
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