Upper limbs biomechanics: Drinking evaluation protocol in hemiparetic patients

Abstract

Biomechanical measurements applied to upper limbs gesture, characterisation and clinical evaluation are less diffused than lower limbs evaluation where gait analysis is rather common. When dealing with upper limbs a set of critical problems have to be afforded. In walking analysis we know that the movement is cycled and repeatable, instead upper limb gestures are more complex principally because of lack of the periodicity. In this paper we present a protocol to face such problems and obtain an objective biomechanics evaluation of the upper limbs, with the particularity to be focused on a daily life gesture such as drinking. The experimental protocol is presented together with the parameter identified to characterise the movement. Some preliminary results are discussed with reference to a set of healthy and clinical subjects.