Individuals with motor disabilities are marginalized and unable to keep up with the rest of the society in a digitized world with little opportunity for social inclusion. Specially designed electronic devices are required so as to enable patients to overcome their handicap and bypass the loss of their hand motor dexterity, which constitutes computer use impossible. The MAMEM's ultimate goal is to deliver technology in order to enable people with motor disabilities to operate the computer using interface channels that can be controlled through eye-movements and mental commands. Three groups of 10 patients with motor disabilities each were recruited to try the MAMEM platform at their home: patients diagnosed with high spinal cord injuries, patients with Parkinson's disease and patients with neuromuscular diseases. Patients had the MAMEM platform - including a built-in monitoring mechanism - at home for 1 month. Some of the participants used the platform extensively participating in social networks, while others did not use it that much. In general, patients with motor disabilities perceived the platform as a useful and satisfactory assistive device that enabled computer use and digital social activities.

Chapter Contents:

• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.1.1 Parkinson's disease
• 3.1.2 Patients with cervical spinal cord injury
• 3.1.3 Patients with neuromuscular diseases
• 3.2 Computer habits and difficulties in computer use
• 3.2.1 Patients with PD
• 3.2.2 Patients with cervical spinal cord injuries
• 3.2.3 Patients with NMDs
• 3.3 MAMEM platform use in home environment
• 3.3.1 Subjects selection
• 3.3.2 Method
• 3.3.2.1 Apparatus
• 3.3.2.2 Procedure
• 3.3.2.3 Evaluation
• 3.3.3 Results
• 3.4 Summary
• References

Inspec keywords: neurophysiology; injuries; brain-computer interfaces; neuromuscular stimulation; medical signal processing; diseases

Other keywords: designed electronic devices; motor disabilities; Parkinson disease; brain-computer interfaces; eye-movements; motor impairment-the MAMEM; digital social activities; neuromuscular diseases; time 1.0 month; home environment; hand motor dexterity

Subjects: Biology and medical computing; External and internal data communications, nerve conduction and synaptic transmission; Digital signal processing; Electrical activity in neurophysiological processes; Signal processing and detection; User interfaces; Biomedical measurement and imaging