IMU based post-traumatic rehabilitation assessment

Assessing the progress made during post-traumatic rehabilitation does not always involve monitoring tools which allow to objectively record the rehabilitation activity and its comparison with a standard activity. IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) are often used in this area for assessing a specific movement which is relevant to the diagnosis of a particular disease or trauma. The evaluation is predominantly based on the analysis of the sensors output waveform in which a pattern can be recognized or the initial and the final positions of the movement detected. Using IMUs composed of tri-axial digital accelerometers and gyroscopes, we have attempted to obtain the actual trajectory of the whole movement, in order to track basic exercises related to specific planes of movement and/or rotation. In this paper we will explain how the techniques used can be exploited in a system for assessing post-traumatic rehabilitation for obtaining an immediate visual result of the activity done by the patient, precise monitoring, a comparison and (automatic) evaluation according to a standard rehabilitation protocol.