Benefits of IMU-based Wearables in Sports Medicine: Narrative Review

Background: Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) based wearables have been the focus of many recent sports medicine research efforts. Objective: The goal of this narrative-driven literature review is to provide the current state of IMU-based wearable technology in Sports Medicine for the benefit of pract...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of kinesiology and sports science 2022, Vol.10 (1), p.36-43
Main Authors: Arlotti, Jacob S., Carroll, William O., Afifi, Youness, Talegaonkar, Purva, Albuquerque, Luciano, Burch V, Reuben F., Ball, John E., Chander, Harish, Petway, Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomechanics
Equipment costs
Force plates
Inertial platforms
Laboratories
Literature reviews
Motion capture
Rehabilitation
Search engines
Sports medicine
Wearable technology
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Summary:Background: Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) based wearables have been the focus of many recent sports medicine research efforts. Objective: The goal of this narrative-driven literature review is to provide the current state of IMU-based wearable technology in Sports Medicine for the benefit of practitioners and athletic trainers. Method: A search was performed using university library resources; specifically, PubMed, EBSCO Discovery and Google Scholar search engines were used to identify appropriate peer-reviewed studies in this field. Results: IMU wearables have shown to be a cost-effective way to measure biomechanical and physiological data for athletic training and rehabilitation compared to laboratory gold standards. While IMU wearables show potential, barriers such as IMU drift and complicated calibrations limit the technology’s ability to flourish in the commercial market. Conclusion: IMU-based wearables provide kinematic information without the constraints and costs of gold standard laboratory equipment such as video-based motion capture and force plates; however, further innovation is required to overcome their major obstacles.
ISSN:2202-946X
2202-946X
DOI:10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.10n.1p.36