Joystick Use for Virtual Electric Power Wheelchair Driving in Individuals with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Principal Investigator:  Brad Dicianno, MD

Co-Investigators: Rory Cooper, PhD; Donald Spaeth, PhD

2005–2011

Studying joysticks, as opposed to other interfaces like computer mice or simple tasks like grasping, allows us to measure amplitude, direction, and speed of discrete movements in tasks that require more complex motor planning. This knowledge allows us to make changes in the interface that could possibly tailor an output to suit the input that was intended but not precisely delivered. Knowledge of the movements that occur at the joystick level lends application not only to the development of improved mobility devices but also to possible future treatments of functional deficits from upper limb neurological impairment.