Applications of wearable sensors in upper extremity MSK conditions: a scoping review

Abstract

Purpose This scoping review uniquely aims to map the current state of the literature on the applications of wearable sensors in people with or at risk of developing upper extremity musculoskeletal (UE-MSK) conditions, considering that MSK conditions or disorders have the highest rate of prevalence among other types of conditions or disorders that contribute to the need for rehabilitation services. Materials and methods The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews guideline was followed in this scoping review. Two independent authors conducted a systematic search of four databases, including PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and IEEEXplore. We included studies that have applied wearable sensors on people with or at risk of developing UE-MSK condition published after 2010. We extracted study designs, aims, number of participants, sensor placement locations, sensor types, and number, and outcome(s) of interest from the included studies. The overall findings of our scoping review are presented in tables and diagrams to map an overview of the existing applications. Results The final review encompassed 80 studies categorized into clinical population (31 studies), workers’ population (31 studies), and general wearable design/performance studies (18 studies). Most were observational, with 2 RCTs in workers’ studies. Clinical studies focused on UE-MSK conditions like rotator cuff tear and arthritis. Workers’ studies involved industrial workers, surgeons, farmers, and at-risk healthy individuals. Wearable sensors were utilized for objective motion assessment, home-based rehabilitation monitoring, daily activity recording, physical risk characterization, and ergonomic assessments. IMU sensors were prevalent in designs (84%), with a minority including sEMG sensors (16%). Assessment applications dominated (80%), while treatment-focused studies constituted 20%. Home-based applicability was noted in 21% of the studies. Conclusion Wearable sensor technologies have been increasingly applied to the health care field. These applications include clinical assessments, home-based treatments of MSK disorders, and monitoring of workers’ population in non-standardized areas such as work environments. Assessment-focused studies predominate over treatment studies. Additionally, wearable sensor designs predominantly use IMU sensors, with a subset of studies incorporating sEMG and other sensor types in wearable platforms to capture muscle activity and inertial data for the assessment or rehabilitation of MSK conditions.

Effects of IMU sensor-to-segment calibration on clinical 3D elbow joint angles estimation

“…The ROM error, RMSE and offset variables analysed all play an essential role in the clinical rehabilitation field, as clinicians aim for the most accurate measurements with standardised assessment movements (single plane tasks such as pure elbow flexion and pronation) as well as measurements in real-life conditions, such as multi-joint tasks. Therefore, providing recommendations on the best IMU calibration technique is imperative to drive accurate clinical diagnoses on musculoskeletal movement conditions ( Bo et al, 2022 ; Zadeh et al, 2023 ). We provide our final considerations for each calibration technique analysed in this paper in the following paragraph: • NP is generally the most common type of calibration for commercial motion capture products ( Roetenberg et al, 2013 ) as well as clinical rehabilitation products ( Choo et al, 2022 ).…”

“…In clinical applications, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) have been widely used to identify movement disorders otherwise imperceptible to the naked eye ( Zadeh et al, 2023 ; Bo et al, 2022 ; Lind et al, 2023 ). However, despite their flexibility, low cost, and reliability, IMU require a preliminary step before they can be used to estimate the joint angle of adjacent body segments.…”

Multi-Electrode EMG Spatial-Filter Implementation Based on Current Conveyors

“…Their usefulness stems from their ability to obtain an EMG output with filtered muscular crosstalk components, thereby increasing the spatial selectivity of the measurement [9][10][11]. Improvements in electrode materials and support, as well as electronics miniaturization, have led to the implementation of wearable sEMG sensors in compact packages [12][13][14][15]. When the number of contacts in a stand-alone active EMG multi-electrode increases, after a certain point, it is convenient to acquire all channels individually and perform the desired function digitally using arrays, such as in structures larger than 8 × 8 contacts [16,17].…”

A Rapid Review on the Effectiveness and Use of Wearable Biofeedback Motion Capture Systems in Ergonomics to Mitigate Adverse Postures and Movements of the Upper Body

“…In contrast to video-based systems [ 55 , 56 ], which may be applicable in non-ambulatory work contexts, ambulatory sensor-based instruments and systems can be used for both ambulatory and non-ambulatory work situations. Sensor-based instruments and systems have been utilized across various contexts to improve movements and task execution of both the upper and lower body, including rehabilitation, sports, and ergonomics [ 45 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. In the field of ergonomics, research on the effectiveness of augmented feedback from wearable motion capture sensor systems to reduce adverse postures and movements has primarily emerged in the last 10–20 years [ 45 , 66 , 67 ].…”