The Influence of 3D Printed Prostheses on Neural Activation Patterns
Amniotic Band SyndromeUpper Extremity Deformities1 moreThe neural basis underlying motor performance in children using a prosthesis has been severely understudied resulting in minimal empirical evidence. The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in conjunction with customized and visually appealing 3D printed prostheses would provide the unique opportunity to quantitatively assess the influence of upper-limb prostheses in the neural activation patterns of the primary motor cortex and motor performance of children. This information would increase the investigators limited knowledge of how prosthesis usage influences the primary motor cortex of growing children and use this information to develop rehabilitation programs aimed at reducing prosthesis rejection and abandonment.
Level Up! Adaptive Gaming for Children With Upper Limb Differences
Upper Limb Amputation at the WristPediatric4 moreThe goal of this clinical trial is to test a new one-handed video game controller adapter to determine if it helps improve how video games are played and enjoyed in children with an upper limb difference on one side. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is performance improved while playing video games with the adapter? Is user satisfaction or enjoyment improved while playing video games with the adapter? Participants will: Answer questions about their limb difference and other demographics Be interviewed about their current and past video game playing experiences Learn how to use the adapter and have their performance with it evaluated Take the adapter home to use for 1 week, and be asked to record their experiences Have their performance with the adapter re-evaluated after a week of practice Be interviewed about their experience with the adapter
Assessment of Neural and Motor Performance
Amniotic Band SyndromeUpper Extremity Deformities1 moreThe neural basis underlying motor performance in children using a prosthesis has been severely understudied resulting in minimal empirical evidence. With the use of low-cost 3D printed prosthetics, the purpose of this study is to examine the assessment of primary motor cortex activation and the representation of gray and white matter in a child with congenital limb loss. This will be accomplished by cross-examining results from fNIR and Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The proposed research uses anatomical MRI to test if children with unilateral congenital partial hand reductions demonstrate less gray and white matter in the motor representation zones. Moreover, the proposed research will focus on an assessment of motor performance using continuous and discrete tasks with a robotic manipulandum. Assessment of motor performance and neural networking are critical to increasing our limited knowledge of how the child increases the number of motor repertoires.