A Helping Hand at Home: A Case Study on the Unsupervised Use of a Robotic Hand Orthosis in People with Tetraplegia
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Date
2024
Publication Type
Conference Paper
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yes
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Abstract
Impairment in hand function due to cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to challenges in many activities of daily living for affected individuals. Robotic hand orthoses (RHOs) aim to help overcome these challenges by actively supporting grasp function. This work presents a case study involving three target users with neurological hand impairment due to SCI using a RHO without supervision at home. In one in -clinic and two at-home sessions, the RHO was individually tailored, and the users were trained in setting it up and using it independently. Afterward, they kept the RHO at home for at least four weeks and were encouraged to use it in specific daily tasks where it could provide assistance. We assessed perceived usability and functional performance while using the RHO before and after home use and recorded the amount of RHO use at home. We showed an increase in functional performance in terms of standardized tasks as well as for specific individual tasks selected by the participants with the tailored RHO compared to not using the RHO (average +1.4 out of 7 points for TRI-HFT manipulation tasks) and compared to using an untailored version of the RHO (average +1.17 points). The usability of the RHO was rated “more or less” to “quite” satisfying (average QUEST 2.0 score 3.2 out of 5). However, the effective amount of independent use was relatively low (from 1 to 7 times). The main reason for this was the prolonged donning time in relation to the limited perceived personal benefit. This work demonstrated the feasibility of an independent use of a RHO in the home environment by people with SCI. However, it also uncovered important challenges when applying such assistive technologies outside a laboratory context in the user's homes.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
2024 10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob)
Journal / series
Volume
Pages / Article No.
931 - 938
Publisher
IEEE
Event
10th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference for Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob 2024)
Edition / version
Methods
Software
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Date created
Subject
hand exoskeleton; assistive technology; spinal cord injury; usability
Organisational unit
03827 - Gassert, Roger / Gassert, Roger