Populations Norms for “SLURP”—An iPad App for Quantification of Visuomotor Coordination Testing

Abstract

Currently the integrity of brain function that drives behavior is predominantly measured in terms of pure motor function, yet most human behavior is visually driven. A means of easily quantifying such visually-driven brain function for comparison against population norms is lacking. Analysis of eye-hand coordination (EHC) using a digital game-like situation with downloadable spatio-temporal details has potential for clinicians and researchers. A simplified protocol for the Lee-Ryan EHC (Slurp) Test app for iPad® has been developed to monitor EHC. The two subtests selected, each of six quickly completed items with appeal to all ages, were found equivalent in terms of total errors/time and sensitive to developmental and aging milestones known to affect EHC. The sensitivity of outcomes due to the type of stylus being used during testing was also explored. Populations norms on 221 participants aged 5 to 80 + years are presented for each test item according to two commonly used stylus types. The Slurp app uses two-dimensional space and is suited to clinicians for pre/post-intervention testing and to researchers in psychological, medical, and educational domains who are interested in understanding brain function.

The Age-Related Changes in Speed of Visual Perception, Visual Verbal and Visuomotor Performance, and Nonverbal Intelligence During Early School Years

“…SLURP is an iPad application developed by Lee et al (2014) and designed by Malcolm Ryan to assess eye-hand coordination in terms of accuracy (number of errors) and time. This novel task has been demonstrated to be reliable and valid data and is normed for populations (5-88 years) across the lifespan (Junghans and Khuu, 2019). The task is game-like and requires children to trace shapes with their fingers as quickly and accurately as possible.…”

Validation of a novel functional test for assessing metamorphopsia using epiretinal membranes as a model

“…However, like clinical perimetry, the implementation of Bayesian and adaptive approaches to thresholding could eventually speed up the test for practical clinical use 39 . The LST is delivered through a computer-based system that has the potential to be adapted to allow it to be performed on portable tablet or screen devices which have become increasingly popular as a tool for assessing visual function in clinical practice 40 . Further studies and refinements to the current test are required before the LST can be widely adopted in clinical practice.…”

Vision and Visuomotor Performance Following Acute Ischemic Stroke

“…The Lee-Ryan Eye-Hand Coordination (SLURP) test is available from Apple App Store for $2.10 USD—dated 13/08/2020—and was originally designed to provide a measure of visuomotor performance in children with amblyopia ( 21 ) on an iPad and in neurotypical adults whose results are similar to any of our age similar controls. We have chosen to use SLURP as a measure of EHC post-stroke due to its ease of use at a patient's bedside and evidence for its fast and sensitive assessment on a geriatric population ( 21 , 27 ). As SLURP EHC test, is performed on a 2D setting, it is shown to assess attention and fine motor control with less demand on stereopsis compared to visuomotor tasks that involve grasping and bead threading where visually guided movements are adversely affected by eye movement impairments and visual deficits that reduce depth perception ( 28 , 29 ).…”

“…Quantification of performance in SLURP is calculated by the time taken to trace a number of geometric or animal shapes shown on an iPad screen ( Figure 2 ) and it is further measured by the number and nature of errors made while tracing each item ( 21 ). Tracing can be performed using an iPad stylus or by hand, with Junghans and Khuu ( 27 ) finding that the number of errors correlate with the type of stylus pen used for tracing. As a consequence, we adopted the Apple iPad rubber tip stylus pen (Capacitive Screen Touch Pencil Drawing Pen, for Apple iPad) in all cases to ensure consistency.…”

“…Screen brightness was set to maximum for 10 min prior to testing, to stabilize luminous output ( 36 ). All patients were asked to use their preferred hand to hold the Apple iPad pen ( 27 ).…”