Kinematics of Pointing Movements Made in a Virtual Versus a Physical 3-Dimensional Environment in Healthy and Stroke Subjects

• Published in: Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation Vol. 90; no. 5; pp. 793 - 802
• Main Authors: Knaut, Luiz A., Subramanian, Sandeep K., McFadyen, Bradford J., Bourbonnais, Daniel, Levin, Mindy F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.05.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Biomechanical Phenomena; Case-Control Studies; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Female; Fingers; Functional Laterality; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Movement - physiology; Neurology; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Reference Values; Rehabilitation; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Stroke; Stroke - diagnosis; Stroke Rehabilitation; Task Performance and Analysis; Upper extremity; User-Computer Interface; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Virtual reality, exercise; Visual Perception; Stroke; CRIR; IRED; Upper extremity; FOV; VE; UE; ROM; 3D; 2D; Virtual reality, exercise; Rehabilitation; VR; HMD; Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal; virtual reality; head-mounted display; field of view; three-dimensional; two-dimensional; range of motion; virtual environment; infrared emitting diode; Physical exercise; Human; Nervous system diseases; Healthy subject; Cardiovascular disease; exercise; Rehabilitation; Stroke; Upper extremity; Virtual reality; Cerebral disorder; Vascular disease; Reeducation; Orthopedics; Central nervous system disease; Kinematics; Environment; Upper limb; Cerebrovascular disease; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0003-9993; 1532-821X; 1532-821X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2008.10.030

Knaut LA, Subramanian SK, McFadyen BJ, Bourbonnais D, Levin MF. Kinematics of pointing movements made in a virtual versus a physical 3-dimensional environment in healthy and stroke subjects. To compare kinematics of 3-dimensional pointing movements performed in a virtual environment (VE) displayed through a head-mounted display with those made in a physical environment. Observational study of movement in poststroke and healthy subjects. Motion analysis laboratory. Adults (n=15; 4 women; 59±15.4y) with chronic poststroke hemiparesis were recruited. Participants had moderate upper-limb impairment with Chedoke-McMaster Arm Scores ranging from 3 to 6 out of 7. Twelve healthy subjects (6 women; 53.3±17.1y) were recruited from the community. Not applicable. Arm and trunk kinematics were recorded in similar virtual and physical environments with an Optotrak System (6 markers; 100Hz; 5s). Subjects pointed as quickly and as accurately as possible to 6 targets (12 trials/target in a randomized sequence) placed in arm workspace areas requiring different arm movement patterns and levels of difficulty. Movements were analyzed in terms of performance outcome measures (endpoint precision, trajectory, peak velocity) and arm and trunk movement patterns (elbow and shoulder ranges of motion, elbow/shoulder coordination, trunk displacement, rotation). For healthy subjects, precision and trajectory straightness were higher in VE when pointing to contralateral targets, and movements were slower for all targets in VE. Stroke participants made less accurate and more curved movements in VE and used less trunk displacement. Elbow/shoulder coordination differed when pointing to the lower ipsilateral target. There were no group-by-environment interactions. Movements in both environments were sufficiently similar to consider VE a valid environment for clinical interventions and motor control studies.