Mobile phone-based joint angle measurement for functional assessment and rehabilitation of proprioception

International audienceAssessment of joint functional and proprioceptive abilities is essential for balance, posture, and motor control rehabilitation. Joint functional ability refers to the capacity of movement of the joint. It may be evaluated thereby measuring the joint range of motion (ROM). Proprioception can be defined as the perception of the position and of the movement of various body parts in space. Its role is essential in sensorimotor control for movement acuity, joint stability, coordination, and balance. Its clinical evaluation is commonly based on the assessment of the joint position sense (JPS). Both ROM and JPS measurements require estimating angles through goniometer, scoliometer, laser-pointer, and bubble or digital inclinometer. With the arrival of Smartphones, these costly clinical tools tend to be replaced. Beyond evaluation, maintaining and/or improving joint functional and proprioceptive abilities by training with physical therapy is important for long-term management. This review aims to report Smartphone applications used for measuring and improving functional and proprioceptive abilities. It identifies that Smartphone applications are reliable for clinical measurements and are mainly used to assess ROM and JPS. However, there is lack of studies on Smartphone applications which can be used in an autonomous way to provide physical therapy exercises at home

Conception et validation d’un système ubiquitaire centré autour du Smartphone et dédié à l’amélioration de l’autonomie de la personne

Loss of mobility and independence for a person increase his isolation, anxiety and can lead to depression. This doctoral work was introduced and motivated by the goal to maintain, even to improve, the autonomy of the people. The decrease of the mobility is directly connected to the decrease of the autonomy. By occurring on mobility, with the help of new technologies, we are capable of proposing innovative solutions to this problem. We noticed that the Smartphone is a tool composed of a set of sensors allowing us to intervene on the evaluation and the rehabilitation of capacities connected to the mobility.The main objective of this doctoral work is to conceive and to estimate an ubiquitous system, based on Smartphone and dedicated to the improvement of the autonomy of the person by rehabilitation at home and the mobility aid. To reach this general goal, we tried at first to know if the Smartphone and its embedded sensors brought the reliability necessary for the conception of such a system. So, to improve the autonomy, we had to answer secondary objectives which are, from a Smartphone, to be able to realize assessment, monitoring and improvement of the 1) proprioceptive capacities of the person and of 2) travels and movements of the person with reduced mobility, which are both of them essential in the preservation of the autonomy.As a whole, the results presented in this doctoral work demonstrate that:•The Smartphone is reliable within the domain of the clinical measurement•The Smartphone is a tool for assessment, monitoring, improving and training a movement or a posture.•The Smartphone is capable of collecting kinematic data to raise the accessibility of the public road network.These results opens the prospect of the use of an ubiquitous tool, the Smartphone, within the framework of the assessment, monitoring, improving and training of a movement, a posture or a displacement, in an autonomous way. To cross the stage of proof of concept, clinical trials can be right now led to determine the impact of our system on the health and the well-being of the person.La perte d'autonomie pour une personne accroît son isolement, son anxiété et peut mener jusqu’à la dépression. Ce travail doctoral a été initié et motivé par la volonté de maintenir, voir d'améliorer, l'autonomie des personnes. La diminution de la mobilité est directement liée à la diminution de l'autonomie. En intervenant sur la mobilité, avec l'aide des nouvelles technologies, nous sommes capables de proposer des solutions innovantes à ce problème. Nous avons constaté que le Smartphone est un outil disposant d'un ensemble de capteurs et actuateurs nous permettant d'intervenir sur l'évaluation et la rééducation de capacités liées à la mobilité.L'objectif principal de ce travail doctoral est ainsi de concevoir et d'évaluer un système ubiquitaire, basé sur Smartphone et dédié à l'amélioration de l'autonomie de la personne via la rééducation, en dehors du cadre soignant, et l’aide aux déplacements. Afin d'atteindre cet objectif général, nous avons d'abord cherché à savoir si le Smartphone et ses capteurs embarqués apportaient la fiabilité nécessaire à la conception d'un tel système. Puis, nous avons dû répondre à des objectifs secondaires qui sont de pouvoir, à partir d'un Smartphone, réaliser l'évaluation, la surveillance et l'amélioration 1) des capacités proprioceptives de la personne et 2) des déplacements et mouvements de la personne à mobilité réduite, toutes deux essentielles au maintien de l'autonomie.Dans leur ensemble, les résultats présentés dans ce travail doctoral démontrent que :•Le Smartphone est fiable dans le cadre de la mesure clinique angulaire•Le Smartphone est un outil capable de mesurer, suivre, contrôler et corriger un mouvement ou une posture.•Le Smartphone est capable de collecter des données cinématiques pour relever l'accessibilité de la voirieCes résultats ouvrent la perspective de l'utilisation d'un outil ubiquitaire, le Smartphone, dans le cadre de la mesure, le suivi, le contrôle et la correction d'un mouvement, d'une posture ou encore d'un déplacement, et cela de manière autonome. Ainsi, afin de passer le stade de preuve de concept, des études cliniques peuvent dès à présent être menées afin de déterminer l'impact de notre système sur la santé et le bien-être de la personne

Design and scientific validation of a smartphone based ubiquitous system dedicated to improvement of the autonomy of the person

La perte d'autonomie pour une personne accroît son isolement, son anxiété et peut mener jusqu’à la dépression. Ce travail doctoral a été initié et motivé par la volonté de maintenir, voir d'améliorer, l'autonomie des personnes. La diminution de la mobilité est directement liée à la diminution de l'autonomie. En intervenant sur la mobilité, avec l'aide des nouvelles technologies, nous sommes capables de proposer des solutions innovantes à ce problème. Nous avons constaté que le Smartphone est un outil disposant d'un ensemble de capteurs et actuateurs nous permettant d'intervenir sur l'évaluation et la rééducation de capacités liées à la mobilité.L'objectif principal de ce travail doctoral est ainsi de concevoir et d'évaluer un système ubiquitaire, basé sur Smartphone et dédié à l'amélioration de l'autonomie de la personne via la rééducation, en dehors du cadre soignant, et l’aide aux déplacements. Afin d'atteindre cet objectif général, nous avons d'abord cherché à savoir si le Smartphone et ses capteurs embarqués apportaient la fiabilité nécessaire à la conception d'un tel système. Puis, nous avons dû répondre à des objectifs secondaires qui sont de pouvoir, à partir d'un Smartphone, réaliser l'évaluation, la surveillance et l'amélioration 1) des capacités proprioceptives de la personne et 2) des déplacements et mouvements de la personne à mobilité réduite, toutes deux essentielles au maintien de l'autonomie.Dans leur ensemble, les résultats présentés dans ce travail doctoral démontrent que :• Le Smartphone est fiable dans le cadre de la mesure clinique angulaire• Le Smartphone est un outil capable de mesurer, suivre, contrôler et corriger un mouvement ou une posture.• Le Smartphone est capable de collecter des données cinématiques pour relever l'accessibilité de la voirieCes résultats ouvrent la perspective de l'utilisation d'un outil ubiquitaire, le Smartphone, dans le cadre de la mesure, le suivi, le contrôle et la correction d'un mouvement, d'une posture ou encore d'un déplacement, et cela de manière autonome. Ainsi, afin de passer le stade de preuve de concept, des études cliniques peuvent dès à présent être menées afin de déterminer l'impact de notre système sur la santé et le bien-être de la personne.Loss of mobility and independence for a person increase his isolation, anxiety and can lead to depression. This doctoral work was introduced and motivated by the goal to maintain, even to improve, the autonomy of the people. The decrease of the mobility is directly connected to the decrease of the autonomy. By occurring on mobility, with the help of new technologies, we are capable of proposing innovative solutions to this problem. We noticed that the Smartphone is a tool composed of a set of sensors allowing us to intervene on the evaluation and the rehabilitation of capacities connected to the mobility.The main objective of this doctoral work is to conceive and to estimate an ubiquitous system, based on Smartphone and dedicated to the improvement of the autonomy of the person by rehabilitation at home and the mobility aid. To reach this general goal, we tried at first to know if the Smartphone and its embedded sensors brought the reliability necessary for the conception of such a system. So, to improve the autonomy, we had to answer secondary objectives which are, from a Smartphone, to be able to realize assessment, monitoring and improvement of the 1) proprioceptive capacities of the person and of 2) travels and movements of the person with reduced mobility, which are both of them essential in the preservation of the autonomy.As a whole, the results presented in this doctoral work demonstrate that:• The Smartphone is reliable within the domain of the clinical measurement• The Smartphone is a tool for assessment, monitoring, improving and training a movement or a posture.• The Smartphone is capable of collecting kinematic data to raise the accessibility of the public road network.These results opens the prospect of the use of an ubiquitous tool, the Smartphone, within the framework of the assessment, monitoring, improving and training of a movement, a posture or a displacement, in an autonomous way. To cross the stage of proof of concept, clinical trials can be right now led to determine the impact of our system on the health and the well-being of the person

Method and System for Measuring, Monitoring, Controlling and Correcting a Movement or a Posture of a User

The invention relates to a method for measuring, monitoring, controlling, evaluating and correcting proprioceptive and/or postural and/or locomotor and/or motor and/or spatial orientation abilities of a user, said method comprising the steps of: measuring and processing (10, 20, 30) in order to detect an effective movement or an effective posture of the user; comparing (40) the effective movement or the effective posture to a theoretical movement or a theoretical posture; providing biological feedback (50) in order to allow the user to correct his effective movement or his effective posture with respect to the theoretical movement or the theoretical posture; calculating and storing (60) a score; transmitting (70) the score to a third party in order to allow the latter to monitor the performances of the user; and automatically or non-automatically updating (80) a level of difficulty

Assessment of attention demand for balance control using a Smartphone: implementation and evaluation

International audienceDual-task paradigm studies strongly highlights the importance of considering attention demand when assessing the ability of an individual to control balance. This paper introduces the implementation of a Smartphone application for quantitative and independent assessment of attention demand for balance control. A proof-of-concept study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the iBalance system in assessing the attention demand for balance control. Eight young healthy adults voluntarily performed a dual-task paradigm procedure, in which they were asked to respond vocally as rapidly as possible to an unpredictable auditory stimulus while maintaining a stable seated posture and two standing postures of increasing difficulty: bipedal and unipedal. Trunk sway measurements were used as an index of postural performance, whereas reaction time measurements were used as an index of the attention demand allocated for executing the postural tasks. In line with the existing literature, results showed that, as the postural task increased in difficulty, trunk sway and attention demand used for controlling balance increased. Taken together, these results are promising, suggesting that the iBalance system could constitute a wireless, portable, lightweight, pervasive, low-cost, user-friendly Smartphone-based system for quantitative and independent assessment of attention demand for balance control suitable for home use

Assessment of attention demand for balance control using a Smartphone: implementation and evaluation

International audienceDual-task paradigm studies strongly highlights the importance of considering attention demand when assessing the ability of an individual to control balance. This paper introduces the implementation of a Smartphone application for quantitative and independent assessment of attention demand for balance control. A proof-of-concept study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the iBalance system in assessing the attention demand for balance control. Eight young healthy adults voluntarily performed a dual-task paradigm procedure, in which they were asked to respond vocally as rapidly as possible to an unpredictable auditory stimulus while maintaining a stable seated posture and two standing postures of increasing difficulty: bipedal and unipedal. Trunk sway measurements were used as an index of postural performance, whereas reaction time measurements were used as an index of the attention demand allocated for executing the postural tasks. In line with the existing literature, results showed that, as the postural task increased in difficulty, trunk sway and attention demand used for controlling balance increased. Taken together, these results are promising, suggesting that the iBalance system could constitute a wireless, portable, lightweight, pervasive, low-cost, user-friendly Smartphone-based system for quantitative and independent assessment of attention demand for balance control suitable for home use

Performance Evaluation of Smartphone Inertial Sensors Measurement for Range of Motion

Over the years, smartphones have become tools for scientific and clinical research. They can, for instance, be used to assess range of motion and joint angle measurement. In this paper, our aim was to determine if smartphones are reliable and accurate enough for clinical motion research. This work proposes an evaluation of different smartphone sensors performance and different manufacturer algorithm performances with the comparison to the gold standard, an industrial robotic arm with an actual standard use inertial motion unit in clinical measurement, an Xsens product. Both dynamic and static protocols were used to perform these comparisons. Root Mean Square (RMS) mean values results for static protocol are under 0.3° for the different smartphones. RMS mean values results for dynamic protocol are more prone to bias induced by Euler angle representation. Statistical results prove that there are no filter effect on results for both protocols and no hardware effect. Smartphones performance can be compared to the Xsens gold standard for clinical research