DEVELOPMENT OF A QUANTITATIVE HAND GRASP AND RELEASE TEST FOR PATIENTS WITH TETRAPLEGIA USING A HAND NEUROPROSTHESIS

We developed a quantitative grasp and release test for assessing a han d neuroprosthesis in C5 and C6 level tetraplegic patients. The objecti ves were (7) to determine if a patient's hand performance with the neu roprosthesis exceeded a defined, clinically acceptable baseline, (2) t o compare performance with and without the neuroprosthesis, (3) to mea sure the consistency of performance over time, and (4) to compare perf ormance among patients. in the test, patients grasped, moved, and rele ased one of six different objects as many times as possible in five 30 -second trials for each object, with and without the neuroprosthesis. Unlike earlier tests, the objects and the task were chosen to span a r ange of difficulties appropriate for C5 and C6 tetraplegic patients us ing a hand neuroprosthesis. Data from five patients showed that perfor mance with the neuroprosthesis was above the baseline; performance imp roved with the neuroprosthesis, although it was not generally consiste nt across sessions; and the neuroprosthesis helped C5 patients manipul ate most objects and helped C6 patients primarily with more difficult objects.