A method of augmenting equipment used for functional capacity evaluations

Functional capacity evaluations are performed on workers who have suffered an injury to determine their capability and the limitations for returning to work. Currently, these evaluations are administered by an occupational therapist whose job requires them to use their subjective judgment at times to determine the capability of the worker. The authors of this paper propose a system that wirelessly transmits heart rate, blood pressure and lifting force and three axis acceleration force data to a graphical users interface for evaluation. This method of augmenting and combing this equipment to assess and log data from the individual undergoing testing removes the subjectivity of the therapist. This augmented equipment implementation was then tested on nine human test subjects to prove concept and ensure feasibility.