KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PEDIATRIC MOVEMENT DISORDERS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER KINEMATIC PROFILES OF LIMB TRAJECTORIES CAN BE USED TO DISTINGUISH NORMAL FROM ABNORMAL MOVEMENT IN INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN. FIRST, THE DEVELOPMENT OF UPPER EXTREMITY MOTOR CONTROL WILL BE INVESTIGATED BY USING KINEMATIC PROFILES TO STUDY VISUALLY-GUIDED REACHING TO A TOY TARGET. SECOND, KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF LIMB TRAJECTORIES WILL BE COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL MEASURES TO DETERMINE WHETHER IT IS BETTER ABLE TO REVEAL INFANT MOVEMENT ABNORMALITIES. THIRD, NEW THERAPEUTIC PROCEDURES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO REMEDIATE MOTOR FUNCTION BY MODIFYING ABNORMAL TRAJECTORIES THROUGH OPERANT LEARNING OF NORMALIZED MOVEMENT. THESE GOALS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTERIZED KINEMATIC DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM (KIDS). THE SYSTEMWILL CONSIST OF A SPECIALLY DESIGNED CHAIR TO FACILITATE OPTIMAL POSITIONING OF THE SUBJECT, A REACHING DEVICE FOR TARGET PRESENTATION, A KINEMATIC RECORDER FOR ACQUISITION OFTRAJECTORY DATA, AND A COMPUTER. SIGNIFICANT MOVEMENT PARAMETERS WILL BE IDENTIFIED, AND SOFTWARE WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR ANALYZING TRAJECTORY SIGNALS. THE RESULTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO A BIOMECHANICAL MODEL OF NORMAL AND ABNORMAL MOVEMENT. THE POTENTIAL OF THE KIDS TO REALIZETHE AIMS OF THE PROJECT WILL BE EVALUATED IN NORMAL AND CEREBRAL PALSIED CHILDREN OF VARIOUS AGE GROUPS. IF THE KIDS IS ABLE TO MEASURE MOTOR ABILITIES IN A PEDIATRIC POPULATION WITH GREATER SPECIFICITY THAN IS POSSIBLE WITH TRADITIONAL INDICES, IT WILL HAVE WIDE COMMERCIAL APPLICATION AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR MANY FORMS OF UPPER LIMB MOTOR IMPAIRMENT IN BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN.