Quantitative assessment of cerebellar ataxia, through automated limb functional tests

Ragil Krishna, Pubudu N. Pathirana, Malcolm Horne, Laura Power and David J. Szmulewicz; Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2019 16:31 doi:10.1186/s12984-019-0490-3

This paper investigates automated versions of three commonly used tests: Finger to Nose test (FNT), test for upper limb Dysdiadochokinesia Test (DDK) and Heel to Shin Test (HST), in evaluating disability due to CA.

Conclusion: For the predominantly translational movement in the upper limb FNT, the rotation captures disability and for the DDK test with predominantly rotational movements, the linear acceleration captures the disability but cannot be extended to the lower limb HST. The orthogonal direction manifestation of ataxia attributed to sensory measurements was determined for each test.