The Berlin Bimanual Test for Tetraplegia (BeBiTT): development, psychometric properties, and sensitivity to change in assistive hand exoskeleton application.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Assistive hand exoskeletons are promising tools to restore hand function after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) but assessing their specific impact on bimanual hand and arm function is limited due to lack of reliable and valid clinical tests. Here, we introduce the Berlin Bimanual Test for Tetraplegia (BeBiTT) and demonstrate its psychometric properties and sensitivity to assistive hand exoskeleton-related improvements in bimanual task performance.

Methods

Fourteen study participants with subacute cervical SCI performed the BeBiTT unassisted (baseline). Thereafter, participants repeated the BeBiTT while wearing a brain/neural hand exoskeleton (B/NHE) (intervention). Online control of the B/NHE was established via a hybrid sensorimotor rhythm-based brain-computer

SUBMITTER: Angerhofer C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9881328 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature