A prototype of a digital spoon for assessing self-feeding skills of children with Cerebral Palsy.

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) often have significant difficulties mastering self-feeding. We created a prototype for assessing their self-feeding skills via a novel instrumented spoon that monitors upper extremity biomechanics involved in eating.
The spoon is accompanied by an application for Android mobile devices, which analyzes the data collected with DataSpoon, and presents it as a graph. Based on this graph, professional caregivers can adjust treatment plans to the specific skill level of each child, and track subtle changes in hand movements over time.

The current prototype of the spoon is assembled from two parts: an ‘off the shelf’ spoon metal bowl, and 3D printed handle, which contains the electronics and the batteries required for operation.

This research was supported by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1716/12).