Use of the ACT3D System to Evaluate Synergies in Children with Spastic Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Clinically, the presentation of upper limb movements in children with spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy is similar to that of adults who have had a stroke. The presence of abnormal synergies following stroke has been described qualitatively in the clinic and quantitatively under static conditions, but this quantitative data is lacking for cerebral palsy. Here, we describe the arm coordination training 3-D (ACT <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3D</sup> ) robotic system and how its unique characteristics can provide additional insight into the dynamic expression of these synergies. Implications and clinical applications are briefly discussed.