Modifying Kinect placement to improve upper limb joint angle measurement accuracy.
Na Jin Seo, Mojtaba F Fathi, Pilwon Hur and 1 others
PMID 27769844WHAT IT FOUND
Placing a Kinect sensor at 45° elevation in front of the shoulder gave better upper limb reaching angle accuracy than the usual horizontal setup.
Wrist range was still too inaccurate for clinical use.
Key findings
01The least upper limb range-of-motion error came from the K 45,0 placement, 45° elevation directly in front of the shoulder, with a mean error of 10°.
02The conventional K 0,0 placement had a mean range-of-motion error of 22°, and K 0,-60 had the largest error, 38°.
03Wrist range-of-motion error was greater than 20° at every tested location, so the Kinect was not adequate for wrist assessment.
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
Only ten healthy right-handed adults were tested, so it does not show accuracy for patients with stroke, burn injury, peripheral nerve injury, muscular dystrophy, or severe spasticity. The reaching targets were at or above shoulder level while seated, so results may not apply to reaching below shoulder level or other movements. The study used the manufacturer-provided Kinect software without extra calibration, filtering, or sensor fusion, so other software or setup may change the error. The study tested healthy adults, not patients, so it does not show how the device performs in people with limited upper limb motion.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that a better Kinect placement makes it accurate for all upper limb joints. The wrist range of motion error was greater than 20° at every tested location, and the study tested healthy seated reaching, not patients.