Research Article Quantification of the Upper Extremity Motor Functions of Stroke Patients Using a Smart Nine-Hole Peg Tester Ákos Jobbágy , 1 Anikó Rita Marik, 1 and Gábor Fazekas 2,3 1 Department of Measurement and Information Systems, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, POB 91, Budapest 1521, Hungary 2 National Institute for Medical Rehabilitation, Szanatórium Street, Budapest 1121, Hungary 3 Szent János Hospital, Diós Árok 1, Budapest 1125, Hungary Correspondence should be addressed to Ákos Jobbágy; jobbagy@mit.bme.hu Received 20 November 2017; Revised 26 January 2018; Accepted 21 February 2018; Published 10 April 2018 Academic Editor: Terry K.K. Koo Copyright © 2018 Ákos Jobbágy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper introduces a smart nine-hole peg tester (s-9HPT), which comprises a standard nine-hole peg test pegboard, but with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) next to each hole. The s-9HPT still supports the traditional nine-hole peg test operating mode, in which the order of the peg placement and removal can be freely chosen. Considering this, the s-9HPT was used in lab research to analyze the traditional procedure and possible new procedures. As this analysis required subjects with similar levels of dexterity, measurement data from 16 healthy subjects (seven females, nine males, 25–80 years old) were used. We consequently found that illuminating the LEDs in various patterns facilitated guided tests of diverse complexity levels. Next, to demonstrate the clinical application of the s-9HPT, the improvement in the hand dexterity of 12 hospitalized stroke patients (45–80 years old, six females and six males) was monitored during their rehabilitation. Here, we used traditional and guided tests validated by healthy subjects. Consequently, improvements were found to be patient specific. At the beginning of rehabilitation, traditional tests suitably indicate improvements, while guided tests are beneficial following improvements in motor functions. Further, the guided tests motivated certain patients, meaning the rehabilitation was more effective for these individuals. 1. Introduction The nine-hole peg test was introduced in 1971 [1], together with a mechanical tool for measuring finger dexterity [2, 3]; further, upon its introduction, specific dimensions were pro- vided for both the board and the pegs used. The traditional test (TRT) is quite simple, and healthy persons can complete it in 15–20 seconds. To perform it, the subject must, using only one hand, pick nine pegs up one at a time from the holder and place them in the holes in the board in arbitrary order. When all nine pegs are in the holes, they must then be removed, also one at a time, and with the same hand. The result of the test is the time that has elapsed from the moment the subject picked up the first peg to the moment they returned the last peg to the holder or placed it on the table. The execu- tion time must be measured by a person supervising the test. Assessments of hand movement do not rate fine motor skills; instead, they are rather functional tests. By analyzing the results of such tests, medical doctors, or physiotherapists can diagnose the severity of the disorder in question and the level of self-management possible and can estimate the pro- spective improvement. In short, the objective assessment of fine motor function greatly assists effective therapy. The nine-hole peg test has been extensively studied in previous literature. For instance, several prior studies have tested its effectiveness with patients with various illnesses; examples of such studies are as follows: Heller et al. [4] found the nine-hole peg test to be suitable for rating the dexterity of patients recovering from acute strokes; Earhart et al. [5] tested 262 patients with Parkinson’s disease and found the result of the nine-hole peg test to be a clinically useful mea- sure for assessing their upper extremity function; and Feys et al. [6] found the nine-hole peg test to be reliable and appli- cable for assessing multiple sclerosis patients with different levels of upper limb impairment. Furthermore, the nine- hole peg test has also been applied in other related studies: Hindawi Journal of Healthcare Engineering Volume 2018, Article ID 7425858, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7425858