Article

We have developed a set of upper-limb functional tasks to guide the design and
test the performance of rehabilitation technologies that restore arm motion in
people with high tetraplegia. Our goal was to develop a short set of tasks that
would be representative of a much larger set of activities of daily living
(ADLs), while also being feasible for a user of a unilateral, implanted
functional electrical stimulation (FES) system. To compile this list of tasks, we
reviewed existing clinical outcome measures related to arm and hand function and
were further informed by surveys of patient desires. We ultimately selected a set
of five tasks that captured the most common components of movement seen in ADLs
and is therefore highly relevant for assessing FES-restored unilateral arm
function in individuals with high cervical spinal cord injury. The tasks are
intended to be used when setting design specifications and for evaluating and
standardizing rehabilitation technologies under development. While not unique,
this set of tasks will provide a common basis for comparing different
interventions (e.g., FES, powered orthoses, robotic assistants) and testing
different user command interfaces (e.g., sip-and-puff, head joysticks,
brain-computer interfaces).

Langue : ANGLAIS