Research project: Motor task manager reliability and validity study - Dormant - Dormant

The Motor Task Manager (MTM) is a portable computerised system designed to analyse the shoulder-elbow motion while performing goal oriented reaching tasks. It manages the full experimental session from the data acquisition to the resultant reporting, by employing different software tools that analyse the movement profiles.
The project aimed to:

1.  Validate the precision of the MTM against a laboratory based motion analysis system (Vicon)
2. Establish the reliability of the MTM between tasks and between different days

Healthy adult participants were seated at a table with a digitising tablet and stylus, and computer screen in front of them with their right dominant hand attached to the stylus via a wrist brace. Eight targets were presented radially, 10cm from a centre point on the computer screen. Each target was presented six times sequentially. Participants were instructed to move to the target and return to the centre point upon presentation of the target.
Movements of the upper limb were measured using the Vicon motion analysis system and were compared with specific variables from the MTM. Kinematic movements of the thorax, glenohumeral and elbow joints were captured using a Vicon (Oxford, UK) optical tracking system.

The results indicated that the MTM protocol is reliable and results are valid, in comparison with data from the Vicon motion analysis system.

Project team

Prof M Stokes, Professor of Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences
Mr M Warner, Dr S Astill, (Lecturer, Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, university of Leeds) Dr A Novellino, (Chief Scientific Officer, ett s.r.l., Genova, Italy) www.ettsolutions.com

Project funder

ett s.r.l., Genova, Italy www.ettsolutions.com