Trunk control

Trunk control is an essential prerequisite for many basic functions: sitting, standing, walking, but also grasping and manipulating. In children with neurodevelopmental disorders trunk control development is often delayed or limited. To assess and monitor trunk control development and the effectiveness of therapy effective means of measuring trunk control are needed. However, until now there are only subjective, clinical measurement instruments available, which are also often not validated for preschool children. In this project, in a collaboration of technicians from the TU Delft and clinicians from the Erasmus MC and Rijndam rehabilitation, as part of the Convergence program, we aim to develop a validated, feasible objective measurement instrument for sitting trunk control in preschool children. As a first step, in 2020 a master student from the TU Delft has done a literature search into available clinical and objective measurements of trunk control. This will be followed up with the development of an instrument for preschool children based on the use of IMU’s on the trunk; proof of concept will be studied in 2021.