Evaluation of a Novel Modular Upper Limb Neuroprosthesis for Daily Life Support

Abstract

The European Project “MUltimodal Neuroprosthesis for Daily Upper limb Support” (MUNDUS) aimed at the development of an assistive platform for recovering direct interaction capabilities of severely motor impaired people based on arm reaching and hand functions. Within this project the present study is focused on the evaluation of the MUNDUS prototype in terms of usability, user satisfaction and performance gained during daily life activities. Fourteen end-users were recruited: 8 individuals with Spinal Cord Injury, 1 with multiple sclerosis, 3 with Friedreich Ataxia, and 2 with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Each subject used the MUNDUS system during a 3-day session performing 4 different tasks: drinking, touching the contralateral shoulder, and pressing a button. To assess the execution performance each task was divided into sub-actions and three experts evaluated over a 3-level score the functionality of the system for each sub-action. User satisfaction with the system was assessed using the Tele-healthcare Satisfaction Questionnaire – Wearable Technology (TSQ_WT) and the System Usability Scale (SUS). Furthermore, the Technology Acceptance Model questionnaire was adopted to assess the impact of the MUNDUS system on caregivers.

The system was always able to successfully support the end user in the accomplishment of the desired task. The MUNDUS system detected always perfectly the user intention during the tasks allowing a direct control of the system by the user. An overall high satisfaction was obtained: SUS median value was 85 (range 0-100) and TSQ-WT median value was 102 (range 0-120). All the caregivers agreed that usefulness of the MUNDUS system was very high. The general positive evaluation obtained by the MUNDUS prototype represents an important result for the potential future development of the system.