Date of Award

3-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and Sciences

First Advisor

Ted Conway

Second Advisor

Kenia Pedrosa Nunes

Third Advisor

Mehmet Kaya

Abstract

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a collection of disorders caused by disturbances in the developing brain before, during, or just after birth that affect the development of movement and posture resulting in limitations in activity. Two of the most widely employed gross motor function classification systems used to classify CP are the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Despite the wide use of these classification systems, neither is fully sufficient in classifying the gross motor function of a patient with CP. A newer therapy program, Conductive Education (CE) seeks to help children with CP to develop orthofunctioning personalities. Orthofunction is the ability to respond to and solve the problems of daily living in order to live as independent of a life as possible. CE based programs typically utilize education based models which result in a wide variety of outcomes, including academic skills, social skills, communication skills, and motor function skills. This makes comparing the results of CE to traditional therapies very difficult. There is not currently a proper measure for detecting the type of motor improvements that CE aims to achieve. As a result, CE has not been proper evidence based validation. Motion capture devices could be useful in the creation of a proper measure to objectively determine improvements in function as a result of CE. Objective improvements in gross motor function could be measured by combining the broad classification principles of the GMFCS, a modified version of the GMFM, and a motion capture device.

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