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Validation of custom wearable sensors to measure angle kinematics: A technical report

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of custom designed wearable sensors when compared to a robotic device to measure i) peak angles in a single plane (flexion/extension) and ii) the extent of error associated with speed of movement. Two experimental procedures were undertaken; i) one wearable sensor was mounted on the arm of a step motor that simulated wrist flexion/extension at the speed of 90°/s with the other wearable sensor static (flat surface); and ii) two wearable sensors were each mounted on a step motor which was programmed to move at two movement speeds 30°/s and 90°/s. When compared to pre-determined angles of the robotic device, the wearable sensors detected peak angles with mean error ranging from -0.95° to 0.11° when one wearable sensor was static and the other dynamic. When two wearable sensors were moving, movement at the higher speed (90°/s) had a mean error range of -2.63° to 0.54, and movement at the slower speed (30°/s) had a mean error range of -0.92° to 2.90°. The custom wearable sensors demonstrated the ability to measure peak angles comparable to the robotic device and demonstrated acceptable to reasonable error when tested at two movement speeds. The results warrant future in vivo testing.

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Abbreviations

3DMA:

Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis

WS:

Wearable sensor

SD:

Standard deviation

RMS error:

Root mean square error

DOF:

Degree of freedom

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Acknowledgements

This research was completed with support from the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation. A grant was awarded from the Australian Catholic University to fund the development of the wearable sensors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6027, Australia

    Corrin P. Walmsley & Catherine Elliott

  2. School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6027, Australia

    Weiyang Xu & Cesar Ortega-Sanchez

  3. School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6027, Australia

    Amity Campbell & Sian A. Williams

  4. Centre for Disability and Development Research, School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, 3065, Australia

    Christine Imms

  5. Kids Rehab WA, Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth, WA, 6008, Australia

    Catherine Elliott

  6. Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Sian A. Williams

Authors
  1. Corrin P. Walmsley
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  2. Weiyang Xu
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  3. Cesar Ortega-Sanchez
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  4. Amity Campbell
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  5. Christine Imms
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  6. Catherine Elliott
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  7. Sian A. Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corrin P. Walmsley.

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Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Author CE holds a position at Perth Children’s Hospital, and CI is employed by the Australian Catholic University. The authors declare that neither the Australian Catholic University nor the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation had a role in the conduct of the research or the reporting or interpretation of results.

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This study did not include human participants and therefore informed consent is not applicable.

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Walmsley, C.P., Xu, W., Ortega-Sanchez, C. et al. Validation of custom wearable sensors to measure angle kinematics: A technical report. Health Technol. 9, 887–892 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-019-00360-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12553-019-00360-1

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