Exploring Immersive Virtual Reality as a screening and assessment tool for upper limb function and coordination

Currently used assessments of upper limb function and coordination are subjective and lack granularity. Immersive Virtual Reality may provide a customisable, motivating and effective medium by which to measure upper limb motor performance. However, work on this topic is limited, and studies often fail to consider the arduous development process, or the technical viability of these tools in practical settings. This thesis documents the development and testing of two immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) applications, with the aim of exploring how iVR can be used in the assessment of upper limb function and coordination. Three studies are described in this thesis. Study One examined whether a remotely administered iVR circle tracing task could detect inter-hand differences amongst healthy adults. Here, movements with the dominant hand were found to be faster and shorter than those made with the non-dominant hand. Study Two performed a secondary analysis of two sets of existing circle tracing data, collected from typically developing children and those with motor deficits. Results indicated that children with motor deficits drew circles with less accuracy and less roundness than controls of similar ages. Finally, following completion of a knowledge-exchange secondment (Chapter Four), Study Three examined the use of mirror game task and a circle tracing task, co-developed with key stakeholders, in samples of stroke survivors, dyspraxic adults, and healthy controls. Here, minimal differences were evident between groups. However, statistical learning techniques applied to participant’s kinematic data were able to accurately predict group membership. In addition to these studies, this thesis discussed the role of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in the development process, and applied a critical view towards the practicalities of developing iVR applications and the feasibility of deploying them in clinical settings. Overall, this work highlights the potential value of iVR based assessments of upper limb function. However, these findings must be tempered against the cost and time required for application development. A range of practical recommendations for the future use of iVR in assessment and screening of the upper limb are presented.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Jack Evans (21038858)

• Virtual Reality
• Kinematics
• Upper Limb
• Assessment
• Stroke
• Dyspraxia
• Developmental Coordination Disorder
• Circle Tracing
• Circle Drawing

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-06-16

Identifier

10779/exe.32686041.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32686041