Capabilities of Upper Extremity Test Kit

This proposal is to package and market a new assessment tool for clinical research. The Capabilities of Upper Extremity Test (CUE-T) is a comprehensive, objective assessment of upper extremity functional capabilities in persons with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Currently there is not a sensitive and reliable measure to evaluate clinically meaningful improvements in upper extremity function. The CUE-T, designed to fill that void, evaluates actions that can be performed using the upper limb such as reaching, pulling, pushing, lifting and using various types of grasp patterns (e.g., key pinch, tip to tip, power). A novel feature of the test is that it focuses on actions performed without using adaptive equipment or compensatory techniques, so that changes in test performance reflect actual changes in neurologic status and not training or adaptations. Since the article on the development of the CUE-T was published there has been interest from researchers in its use. Kits have been put together for a few Centers, but since a number of the test items are hand made, it has not been possible to make more than a few kits at a time. Standardizing and streamlining the production of the test materials would permit more widespread use of the CUE-T. Clinical trials for neurorecovery after SCI are increasingly targeting persons with cervical SCI, and at least one company has expressed a strong interest in using the CUE-T in a multicenter trial. Support to scale up production of test kits is needed for this to occur.