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Age Effects on Upper Limb Kinematics Assessed by the REAplan Robot in Healthy Subjects Aged 3 to 93 Years

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Abstract

Kinematics is recommended for the quantitative assessment of upper limb movements. The aims of this study were to determine the age effects on upper limb kinematics and establish normative values in healthy subjects. Three hundred and seventy healthy subjects, aged 3–93 years, participated in the study. They performed two unidirectional and two geometrical tasks ten consecutive times with the REAplan, a distal effector robotic device that allows upper limb displacements in the horizontal plane. Twenty-six kinematic indices were computed for the four tasks. For the four tasks, nineteen of the computed kinematic indices showed an age effect. Seventeen indices (the accuracy, speed and smoothness indices and the reproducibility of the accuracy, speed and smoothness) improved in young subjects aged 3–30 years, showed stabilization in adults aged 30–60 years and declined in elderly subjects aged 60–93 years. Additionally, for both geometrical tasks, the speed index exhibited a decrease throughout life. Finally, a principal component analysis provided the relations between the kinematic indices, tasks and subjects’ age. This study is the first to assess age effects on upper limb kinematics and establish normative values in subjects aged 3–93 years.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Saint-Luc Foundation. The authors thank Martin Vanderwegen, Tea Piccininno, Mathilde Morvan, Sophie Hubert, Wivine Hubert, Lola Vanden Berghe, Floriane Dierckx, Isabelle Van Duüren (supervisor of the Chapelle-aux-champs school), The nursing home “Le Point du Jour”, the high school “Lycée Martin V” for their collaboration and all of the subjects for their participation in this study. The Saint-Luc Foundation (Brussels) supported all phases of this study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience (IONS/COSY), Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Mounier, 53 B1.53.04, 1200, Brussels, Belgium

    Maxime Gilliaux, Thierry M. Lejeune, Gaëtan Stoquart & Christine Detrembleur

  2. Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Bionics, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Maxime Gilliaux, Thierry M. Lejeune, Julien Sapin, Bruno Dehez, Gaëtan Stoquart & Christine Detrembleur

  3. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Hippocrate, 10, 1200, Brussels, Belgium

    Thierry M. Lejeune & Gaëtan Stoquart

  4. Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Levant, 2, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Julien Sapin & Bruno Dehez

Authors
  1. Maxime Gilliaux
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  2. Thierry M. Lejeune
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  3. Julien Sapin
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  4. Bruno Dehez
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  6. Christine Detrembleur
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Correspondence to Christine Detrembleur.

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Associate Editor Eiji Tanaka oversaw the review of this article.

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Gilliaux, M., Lejeune, T.M., Sapin, J. et al. Age Effects on Upper Limb Kinematics Assessed by the REAplan Robot in Healthy Subjects Aged 3 to 93 Years. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 1224–1233 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1396-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1396-2

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