Visualisation of upper limb activity using spirals - a new approach to the assessment of daily prosthesis usage

Background:Current outcome measures used in upper limb myoelectric prosthesis studies include clinical tests of function and self-report questionnaires on real-world prosthesis use. Research in other cohorts has questioned both the validity of self-report as an activity assessment tool and the relationship between clinical functionality and real-world upper limb activity. Previously,1 we reported the first results of monitoring upper limb prosthesis use. However, the data visualisation technique used was limited in scope.Study Design:Methodology development.Objectives:To introduce two new methods for the analysis and display of upper limb activity monitoring data and to demonstrate the potential value of the approach with example real-world data.Methods:Upper limb activity monitors, worn on each wrist, recorded data on two anatomically intact participants and two prosthesis users over 1 week. Participants also filled in a diary to record upper limb activity. Data visualisation was carried out using histog...