Inertial Measurement Units and Application for Remote Health Care in Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: Narrative Review.
Michael J Rose, Kerry E Costello, Samantha Eigenbrot and 2 others
PMID 35653180WHAT IT FOUND
Inertial sensors can track movement and recovery in hip and knee osteoarthritis, but most studies are small, lab-based, and use different methods.
These devices show promise for remote care but are not yet ready for routine clinical use without further validation.
Key findings
01Inertial sensors show promise for assessing osteoarthritis presence, severity, and intervention outcomes, but most studies are small and preliminary.
02Current evidence is limited by high variability in sensor placement and data analysis, preventing clear conclusions on best practices.
03Most studies focus on walking gait in laboratory settings, with few examining other daily activities or real-world environments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The review is narrative, not systematic, so the selection of studies may be biased. The quality of the included studies was not assessed. The search was limited to the last 5 years, potentially excluding relevant earlier work. There was high variability in sensor placement and data analysis methods across the included studies. The review did not consider patient or clinician perspectives on using wearable technology.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high classification accuracies reported in individual studies (e.g., 93% for predicting treatment response) as evidence that IMUs are ready for clinical use. These results come from small, preliminary studies with varying methods, and the review explicitly states that further validation in real-world settings is required before these tools can be implemented in practice.