Reliability and Validity of a Mobile Device for Assessing Head Control Ability

Purpose Head control ability assessed by the cervicocephalic kinesthetic sensibility test has been widely used as an important indicator for the diagnosis or treatment of cervical disorders. However, a reliable and handy device to measure head control has not been developed. This study aimed to comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical and biological engineering 2021-02, Vol.41 (1), p.45-52
Main Authors: Nikkhoo, Mohammad, Niu, Chi-Chien, Fu, Chen-Ju, Lu, Meng-Ling, Chen, Wen-Chien, Lin, Yang-Hua, Cheng, Chih-Hsiu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Cell Biology
Correlation analysis
Electronic devices
Engineering
Head
Imaging
Inertial platforms
Motion capture
Original Article
Radiology
Range of motion
Reliability analysis
Rotation
Ultrasound
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Summary:Purpose Head control ability assessed by the cervicocephalic kinesthetic sensibility test has been widely used as an important indicator for the diagnosis or treatment of cervical disorders. However, a reliable and handy device to measure head control has not been developed. This study aimed to compare the capability to quantify the cervicocephalic kinesthetic sensibility between an ultrasound-based motion capture system and an inertial measurement unit-based (IMU-based) mobile device with the ultimate goal of developing a clinically-useful assessment tool. Methods Thirty-five young healthy volunteers were recruited in this study. The subjects were asked to perform the clinical cervicocephalic kinesthetic sensibility test in a head-to-neutral reposition procedure. The maximal range of motion and the reposition test in the cervical flexion, extension, right rotation, and left rotation directions were analyzed. After 5–7 days, the experimental procedure was repeated for the between-day retest measurement. Results No significant differences in cervical maximal range of motion and head reposition errors between the two devices were found. The intra-rater reliability of both ranged from good to excellent for the within-day and between-day measurements. The correlation between the two devices was also high, with r-values higher than 0.7 in all movement directions. Conclusions The IMU-based mobile device shows the potential to be a reliable and feasible head assessment device. Further study is warranted to extend its applications for clinical examination.
ISSN:1609-0985
2199-4757
DOI:10.1007/s40846-020-00577-w