Optimizing Assisted Communication Devices for Children With Motor Impairments Using a Model of Information Rate and Channel Capacity

For children who depend on devices to communicate, the rate of communication is a primary determinant of success. For children with motor impairments, the rate of communication may be limited by inability to contact buttons or cells rapidly or accurately. It is therefore essential to know how to adjust the device interface in order to maximize each child's rate of communication. The optimal rate of communication is determined by the Channel Capacity, which is the maximum value of the Information Rate for all possible keyboard button or cell layouts for the communication device. We construct a mathematical model for the information rate based on the relationship between movement time and the number of buttons per screen, the size of the buttons, and the length of a sequence of buttons that must be pressed to communicate each word in the vocabulary. We measure the parameters of the model using a custom-programmed touch-screen interface.

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Key information

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy Brain Damage, Chronic Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Nervous System Diseases

Age range

5 year–25 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford, California, 94305, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

- Use of Dynavox ability to follow two-step commands impairment in arm function Exclusion Criteria:- increased risks of study

Treatment and study plan

reprogramming assisted communication device interface

Device

The subjects were required to touch targets on the iPad® screen with the index finger of their preferred (less-affected) arm. The experimental task consisted of 180 targets divided in 4 blocks: 45 targets each block with a 1-minute interval between trials to avoid fatigue. Targets appeared at 1 of 9 different locations on the screen, and subjects moved their finger sequentially from one target to the next.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Southern California

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2006
Primary completion: 2014
Study completion: 2014
First posted: Jul 14, 2006
Registry last updated: May 19, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed