Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring
Monitoring human movement is highly relevant in mobile health applications. Textile-based wearable solutions have the potential for continuous and unobtrusive monitoring. The precise estimation of joint angles is important in applications such as the prevention of osteoarthritis or in the assessment...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/24/9657 |
| _version_ | 1797379402999267328 |
|---|---|
| author | Valeria Galli Chakaveh Ahmadizadeh Raffael Kunz Carlo Menon |
| author_facet | Valeria Galli Chakaveh Ahmadizadeh Raffael Kunz Carlo Menon |
| author_sort | Valeria Galli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Monitoring human movement is highly relevant in mobile health applications. Textile-based wearable solutions have the potential for continuous and unobtrusive monitoring. The precise estimation of joint angles is important in applications such as the prevention of osteoarthritis or in the assessment of the progress of physical rehabilitation. We propose a textile-based wearable device for knee angle estimation through capacitive sensors placed in different locations above the knee and in contact with the skin. We exploited this modality to enhance the baseline value of the capacitive sensors, hence facilitating readout. Moreover, the sensors are fabricated with only one layer of conductive fabric, which facilitates the design and realization of the wearable device. We observed the capability of our system to predict knee sagittal angle in comparison to gold-standard optical motion capture during knee flexion from a seated position and squats: the results showed an R<sup>2</sup> coefficient between 0.77 and 0.99, root mean squared errors between 4.15 and 12.19 degrees, and mean absolute errors between 3.28 and 10.34 degrees. Squat movements generally yielded more accurate predictions than knee flexion from a seated position. The combination of the data from multiple sensors resulted in R<sup>2</sup> coefficient values of 0.88 or higher. This preliminary work demonstrates the feasibility of the presented system. Future work should include more participants to further assess the accuracy and repeatability in the presence of larger interpersonal variability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:22:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13a2473d501c4404a19106cd87cb1b5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:22:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-13a2473d501c4404a19106cd87cb1b5d2023-12-22T14:40:06ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-12-012324965710.3390/s23249657Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle MonitoringValeria Galli0Chakaveh Ahmadizadeh1Raffael Kunz2Carlo Menon3Biomedical and Mobile Health Technology Laboratory, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zürich, SwitzerlandBiomedical and Mobile Health Technology Laboratory, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zürich, SwitzerlandBiomedical and Mobile Health Technology Laboratory, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zürich, SwitzerlandBiomedical and Mobile Health Technology Laboratory, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Balgrist Campus, Lengghalde 5, 8008 Zürich, SwitzerlandMonitoring human movement is highly relevant in mobile health applications. Textile-based wearable solutions have the potential for continuous and unobtrusive monitoring. The precise estimation of joint angles is important in applications such as the prevention of osteoarthritis or in the assessment of the progress of physical rehabilitation. We propose a textile-based wearable device for knee angle estimation through capacitive sensors placed in different locations above the knee and in contact with the skin. We exploited this modality to enhance the baseline value of the capacitive sensors, hence facilitating readout. Moreover, the sensors are fabricated with only one layer of conductive fabric, which facilitates the design and realization of the wearable device. We observed the capability of our system to predict knee sagittal angle in comparison to gold-standard optical motion capture during knee flexion from a seated position and squats: the results showed an R<sup>2</sup> coefficient between 0.77 and 0.99, root mean squared errors between 4.15 and 12.19 degrees, and mean absolute errors between 3.28 and 10.34 degrees. Squat movements generally yielded more accurate predictions than knee flexion from a seated position. The combination of the data from multiple sensors resulted in R<sup>2</sup> coefficient values of 0.88 or higher. This preliminary work demonstrates the feasibility of the presented system. Future work should include more participants to further assess the accuracy and repeatability in the presence of larger interpersonal variability.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/24/9657motion capturesmart clothingstrain sensortextile sensorwearable technology |
| spellingShingle | Valeria Galli Chakaveh Ahmadizadeh Raffael Kunz Carlo Menon Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring Sensors motion capture smart clothing strain sensor textile sensor wearable technology |
| title | Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring |
| title_full | Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring |
| title_fullStr | Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring |
| title_short | Textile-Based Body Capacitive Sensing for Knee Angle Monitoring |
| title_sort | textile based body capacitive sensing for knee angle monitoring |
| topic | motion capture smart clothing strain sensor textile sensor wearable technology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/24/9657 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT valeriagalli textilebasedbodycapacitivesensingforkneeanglemonitoring AT chakavehahmadizadeh textilebasedbodycapacitivesensingforkneeanglemonitoring AT raffaelkunz textilebasedbodycapacitivesensingforkneeanglemonitoring AT carlomenon textilebasedbodycapacitivesensingforkneeanglemonitoring |