Kinematic analysis of unilateral and bilateral drinking task after brain and periphery injuries.

In this study, we aim to understand how functional movement is affected by various physical and neurological injuries. Using a novel system known as the Bilateral Assessment System (BiAS), we tracked the wrist movement of subjects with stroke, cerebral palsy, transradial amputations, as well as healthy individuals in space and in time as they completed a drinking task. The BiAS allowed us to analyze the kinematics of the movement of subjects to describe how specific impairment types at varying levels of the nervous system affect upper limb movement. Using kinematics to provide an objective analysis, the results suggest that bilateral ability is not analogous to unilateral ability and the importance of bilateral training, in addition to unilateral training, in the rehabilitation of injured persons is highlighted. In addition, motor, sensory, and strength impairment and subsequent ADL functional ability is a function of impairment level and not just impairment type.