Product category:
Maths, charting, statistics and QA software
News Release from: Adept Scientific | Subject: DADiSP
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 29 August 2003
Software analyses problem children's
handwriting
In a study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Littleton Meeks of Meeks Associates used a computer to analyse the handwriting of children with ADHD.
In a study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Littleton Meeks of Meeks Associates used a computer to analyse the handwriting of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) These studies have looked at handwriting of children when they are unmedicated and medicated using Ritalin
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 19 May 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Analysis software provides a stitch in time
DADiSP helps Hong Kong Polytechnic in London perform research on the mechanical properties of fabric and sewing thread.
Software makes more sense of acquired data
For any engineer or researcher working with long time series, DADiSP has long represented an intriguing third way of manipulating, editing, displaying or analysing data.
Meeks is hoping to develop a test instrument to diagnose ADHD, as well as evaluate the effects of Ritalin on handwriting - perhaps providing an algorithm to allow a proper dosage level to be set for an individual child.
Advances in computer technology have made it possible to record and analyse handwriting.
Meeks uses a Wacom digitiser interfaced to a personal computer to sample and record the position of the pen tip during the writing process.
The digitiser has a sampling rate of 205 points per second with a resolution of 0.01mm.
DADiSP data analysis software was used to analyse the recorded x and y position of the pen, calculate pen speed, and measure pauses in pen motion.
This system allows even small rapid handwriting to be recorded.
The Wacom system also has the advantage of recording the axial force of the pen or the pen pressure against the paper.
It is a well-known fact that many children with ADHD have difficulty writing neatly and legibly.
Furthermore, paediatricians and clinicians have noted that the handwriting of these children may improve markedly when they are medicated with Ritalin.
Because of this, Meeks decided to study the handwriting of children with ADHD when they are unmedicated and after they have received their prescribed medication.
The goal of Meeks Associates in doing this study is to develop a method of assessment of ADHD based on the accurate measurement of the children's handwriting.
According to Meeks: "With DADiSP we can investigate the process of handwriting in detail: how pen speed and pen pressure change with time and where pauses occur".
It is hoped that this experiment will provide an objective test for the diagnosis of ADHD.
The study may also be extended to evaluate the effect of Ritalin on handwriting and may be used in the future to verify the correct dosage of Ritalin used to properly medicate a child.
DADiSP is supplied and supported in the UK and Ireland by Adept Scientific. Request a free brochure from Adept Scientific ...
• Adept Scientific: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Engineeringtalk email newsletter
• Engineeringtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
