Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious conditions that cause physical disability in human development. In the industrialized world, the incidence of cerebral palsy is about 2 per 1000 live births. In the United States, approximately 10,000 infants and babies are diagnosed with CP each year, and 1200-1500 are diagnosed at preschool age. Cerebral palsy patients are usually affected by one or more of the conditions such as Spastic, Athetoid/Dyskinetic or Ataxic cerebral palsy based on the extent and type of impairment of the normal functioning of the limbs. Though affected, a majority of these patients have limited movements in the upper limbs. This can be exploited by the use of advanced technologies in making life easier for patients affected by cerebral palsy.

The crux of this work is based on the development of the accelerometer based mouse (Fouse) which has been discussed in a previous work at the IATED conference and the fabrication successfully implemented. This was done by using the axial movement of the palm with respect to wrist as the movement for the mouse pointer. The clicks are applied by the movement of the fingers in up down motion and the scroll is controlled by the rate at which the finger is tilted. The detection of palm tilt rate and direction is found with the help of accelerometers. The accelerometer finds the difference in the vertical movement of the chip with respect to G change. This G change is calculated based on the extent of tilt and converted into corresponding voltage value which we use for computation and make the pointer move based on it. We use accelerometer MMA 1220D which is low G micro machined accelerometer with a self test capability. The control of the entire system is done by PIC 16f870 microcontroller. The communication between the Fouse and computer can be done using Bluetooth device. The major advantage of this design is to get a mouse which is not platform dependent and much easier to use.

Aimed at making life a little easier for patients suffering from cerebral palsy, the device shall be integrated into a wristband like setup for the patients. It is intended to be efficient, low cost, light weight and portable so that the patient is comfortable while operating the same. The wristband will have an embedded system to amplify and accentuate even slight movements made by the patients. This data shall then be fed to the pre fabricated Fouse circuit and communication initiated. The device can be made to give a signal to a computer or a television to get switched on or off. The angles and extent of movement of the wrist and the fingers can be utilized to provide a wide range of inputs to number of devices. Problems arising from inadvertent movements of the limbs are being worked upon. Appropriate filters are being designed to differentiate intelligent movement from noise.