Computer-assisted approaches for measuring, segmenting, and analyzing functional upper extremity movement: a narrative review of the current state, limitations, and future directions.

This is a narrative review, not a systematic review, so it does not report a complete search, study quality check, or pooled results. It does not provide primary patient data or show that any tool improves outcomes. Many examples are from laboratory studies or healthy participants, not from the patients a therapist usually sees. Camera-based and low-cost sensor tools may not capture fine movement accurately enough for clinical decisions. Movement labels and hierarchy definitions are inconsistent, making studies hard to compare. Rehabilitation-specific datasets with clinically relevant labels are lacking. There is no consensus on how clinicians should use kinematic measures in practice. Automated systems may carry biases from training data, such as cultural or impairment variations, and may not generalize.

Do not read this review as evidence that computer-assisted upper-limb movement tools are ready to change patient care. The review says the methods still need better accuracy, standardized segmentation, patient-specific validation, and evidence that they improve clinical outcomes.