1)Allow for physical therapists to collect data that will prove beneficial effects due to physical therapy.
2)Collect accurate and precise data
3)Simulate and Animate hand based on data collected
4)Sample and compare to purposeful hand movements
This project is going to allow physical therapists to better understand the positive affects of their physical therapy by witnessing positive movements from patients. A negative effect of a stroke is not just the initial neuro-muscular lose but also the over-compensation of the less impaired limb to take over space needed for the severely impaired limb to re-establish its neuro-muscular pathway. Although a full recovery can not be expected the severely impaired limb still has hope to fill the role of the less dominant hand. Not as focused on as the dominant hand, the role of the less dominant hand is unarguably important and necessary that is why we have two hands after all these years of selection. This project is a work compilation of 4 undergraduate students headed by the computer science student, Luke Greenleaf, under the advisement of Dr. Foulds and the Biomedical Engineering Department at NJIT. This summer we will be creating a prototype that will allow us to begin proving that we can collect continuous data and recreate the meaning of that data in order to understand the movement initiated for both hands and understand a patients use of their severely impaired limb.