The CAM test appears as a robust and low cost tool to quantify upper limb pointing movements. In particular, the test strongly discriminates the effects of age upon motor performances in upper limbs. Future studies are now required to establish the sensitivity, specificity and reliability of this procedure in selected neuromuscular or skeletal diseases affecting the elderly.

A novel transportable electronic platform aiming to characterize the performance of successive fast vertical visually guided pointing movements toward two fixed targets (eCAM test: electronic counting arm movement test) is described and one validation test is presented. This platform is based on an Arduino(®) micro-controller and a Processing(®) routine. It records both the pointing performance (number of clicks) and the elapsed time between two successive pointing movements. Using this novel platform, we studied the effects of functional electrical stimulation (FES) applied on the dominant upper limb in 15 healthy volunteers (mean age ± SD: 22.3 ± 4.3 years; 5 males/10 females). The following muscles were stimulated: flexor carpi radialis (FCR), extensor carpi radialis (ECR), biceps brachii (BB), and triceps brachii (TB). The intensities of the stimulation were 2 and 3 mA above the sensory threshold (ST). Movement times were lesser when performed against gravity and pointing performance improved with FES. We provide the first demonstration that low-intensity FES impacts on motor performances during successive vertical goal-directed pointing movements under visual guidance. The eCAM test is currently the sole electronic tool to assess quickly and easily the performances of successive vertical pointing movements. Future potential applications include, in particular, the follow-up of the effects of neurorehabilitation of neurological/neurosurgical disorders associated with hand-eye incoordination, the functional evaluation of upper limb prosthesis or orthosis, and the analysis of the effects of FES in central or peripheral nervous system disorders.