Customized Control to Enable Function in Dystonia and Choreathetosis

Principal Investigator: Brad Dicianno, MD

Co-Investigators: Dan Ding, PhD; Sara Sibenaller, BS; Rory A.Cooper, PhD

2006-2007

Movement Disorders are among the most common causes of chronic disability for aging Veterans.  Disorders such as Dystonia and Chorea can preclude the use of control interfaces for power mobility, environmental control, computer access, and augmentative and alternative communication.  Approximately 40% of individuals who desire power mobility cannot actually operate a control device, and about half of these individuals would benefit from a novel control interface.  Although movement disorders may mask intentional movements, individuals can often produce voluntary graded forces or directional movements, and many have intact motor planning. We have developed a digital isometric joystick (IJ) with sophisticated signal processing that we have tested in pilot studies on individuals with upper limb impairments from a variety of etiologies.  Our IJ has been able to “filter out” or cancel the noise of unintentional, variable movements in individual users and has produced trial times and driving accuracy comparable to a standard joystick.  We can easily adapt our IJ to serve as a universal interface for multiple devices.