Automated Finger Chase (ballistic tracking) in the Assessment of Cerebellar Ataxia.

Abstract

A hallmark of cerebellar disease is impaired accuracy of intended movement which is often summarized as ataxia or incoordination. The diagnosis and assessment of cerebellar ataxia (CA) is primarily based on the expert clinician's visual and auditory observations of the performance of these tasks, and as such, a significant level of subjectivity is implied. In order to address the limitations of this subjectivity we designed a novel automated system, utilizing the Microsoft Kinect device, to capture the finger chase task (in the assessment of upper limb ataxia) which is a part of the assessment of cerebellar upper limb function. Capturing the movements of the marker attached on the subject's ..