• M Abdulhadi Alagha, Mahmoud A Alagha, Eleanor Dunstan, Olaf Sperwer, Kate A Timmins, and Bronek M Boszczyk.
• Academic Orthopaedics, Trauma and Sports Medicine, Queen's Medical Centre, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK.
• Eur Spine J. 2017 Apr 1; 26 (4): 1291-1297.

PurposeTo assess the reliability and validity of a hand motion sensor, Leap Motion Controller (LMC), in the 15-s hand grip-and-release test, as compared against human inspection of an external digital camera recording.MethodsFifty healthy participants were asked to fully grip-and-release their dominant hand as rapidly as possible for two trials with a 10-min rest in-between, while wearing a non-metal wrist splint. Each test lasted for 15 s, and a digital camera was used to film the anterolateral side of the hand on the first test. Three assessors counted the frequency of grip-and-release (G-R) cycles independently and in a blinded fashion. The average mean of the three was compared with that measured by LMC using the Bland-Altman method. Test-retest reliability was examined by comparing the two 15-s tests.ResultsThe mean number of G-R cycles recorded was: 47.8 ± 6.4 (test 1, video observer); 47.7 ± 6.5 (test 1, LMC); and 50.2 ± 6.5 (test 2, LMC). Bland-Altman indicated good agreement, with a low bias (0.15 cycles) and narrow limits of agreement. The ICC showed high inter-rater agreement and the coefficient of repeatability for the number of cycles was ±5.393, with a mean bias of 3.63.ConclusionsLMC appears to be valid and reliable in the 15-s grip-and-release test. This serves as a first step towards the development of an objective myelopathy assessment device and platform for the assessment of neuromotor hand function in general. Further assessment in a clinical setting and to gauge healthy benchmark values is warranted.

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