Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that there is a dose-response relationship between the amount of therapy and functional recovery in post-acute rehabilitation care. To this day, only the total time of therapy has been investigated as a potentia...

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Main Authors: Hamel Mathieu, Choquette Stéphane, Boissy Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2008-09-01
Series:Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Online Access:http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/5/1/20
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author Hamel Mathieu
Choquette Stéphane
Boissy Patrick
author_facet Hamel Mathieu
Choquette Stéphane
Boissy Patrick
author_sort Hamel Mathieu
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that there is a dose-response relationship between the amount of therapy and functional recovery in post-acute rehabilitation care. To this day, only the total time of therapy has been investigated as a potential determinant of this dose-response relationship because of methodological and measurement challenges. The primary objective of this study was to compare time and motion measures during real life physical therapy with estimates of active time (i.e. the time during which a patient is active physically) obtained with a wireless body area network (WBAN) of 3D accelerometer modules positioned at the hip, wrist and ankle. The secondary objective was to assess the differences in estimates of active time when using a single accelerometer module positioned at the hip.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five patients (77.4 ± 5.2 y) with 4 different admission diagnoses (stroke, lower limb fracture, amputation and immobilization syndrome) were recruited in a post-acute rehabilitation center and observed during their physical therapy sessions throughout their stay. Active time was recorded by a trained observer using a continuous time and motion analysis program running on a Tablet-PC. Two WBAN configurations were used: 1) three accelerometer modules located at the hip, wrist and ankle (M3) and 2) one accelerometer located at the hip (M1). Acceleration signals from the WBANs were synchronized with the observations. Estimates of active time were computed based on the temporal density of the acceleration signals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 62 physical therapy sessions were observed. Strong associations were found between WBANs estimates of active time and time and motion measures of active time. For the combined sessions, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.93 (P ≤ 0.001) for M3 and 0.79 (P ≤ 0.001) for M1. The mean percentage of differences between observation measures and estimates from the WBAN of active time was -8.7% ± 2.0% using data from M3 and -16.4% ± 10.4% using data from M1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>WBANs estimates of active time compare favorably with results from observation-based time and motion measures. While the investigation on the association between active time and outcomes of rehabilitation needs to be studied in a larger scale study, the use of an accelerometer-based WBAN to measure active time is a promising approach that offers a better overall precision than methods relying on work sampling. Depending on the accuracy needed, the use of a single accelerometer module positioned on the hip may still be an interesting alternative to using multiple modules.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-73353afc4b2c444bb804bce18e88d5a62022-12-21T18:34:56ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032008-09-01512010.1186/1743-0003-5-20Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitationHamel MathieuChoquette StéphaneBoissy Patrick<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that there is a dose-response relationship between the amount of therapy and functional recovery in post-acute rehabilitation care. To this day, only the total time of therapy has been investigated as a potential determinant of this dose-response relationship because of methodological and measurement challenges. The primary objective of this study was to compare time and motion measures during real life physical therapy with estimates of active time (i.e. the time during which a patient is active physically) obtained with a wireless body area network (WBAN) of 3D accelerometer modules positioned at the hip, wrist and ankle. The secondary objective was to assess the differences in estimates of active time when using a single accelerometer module positioned at the hip.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five patients (77.4 ± 5.2 y) with 4 different admission diagnoses (stroke, lower limb fracture, amputation and immobilization syndrome) were recruited in a post-acute rehabilitation center and observed during their physical therapy sessions throughout their stay. Active time was recorded by a trained observer using a continuous time and motion analysis program running on a Tablet-PC. Two WBAN configurations were used: 1) three accelerometer modules located at the hip, wrist and ankle (M3) and 2) one accelerometer located at the hip (M1). Acceleration signals from the WBANs were synchronized with the observations. Estimates of active time were computed based on the temporal density of the acceleration signals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 62 physical therapy sessions were observed. Strong associations were found between WBANs estimates of active time and time and motion measures of active time. For the combined sessions, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.93 (P ≤ 0.001) for M3 and 0.79 (P ≤ 0.001) for M1. The mean percentage of differences between observation measures and estimates from the WBAN of active time was -8.7% ± 2.0% using data from M3 and -16.4% ± 10.4% using data from M1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>WBANs estimates of active time compare favorably with results from observation-based time and motion measures. While the investigation on the association between active time and outcomes of rehabilitation needs to be studied in a larger scale study, the use of an accelerometer-based WBAN to measure active time is a promising approach that offers a better overall precision than methods relying on work sampling. Depending on the accuracy needed, the use of a single accelerometer module positioned on the hip may still be an interesting alternative to using multiple modules.</p>http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/5/1/20
spellingShingle Hamel Mathieu
Choquette Stéphane
Boissy Patrick
Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
title Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
title_full Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
title_fullStr Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
title_full_unstemmed Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
title_short Accelerometer-based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post-acute rehabilitation
title_sort accelerometer based wireless body area network to estimate intensity of therapy in post acute rehabilitation
url http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/5/1/20
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AT choquettestephane accelerometerbasedwirelessbodyareanetworktoestimateintensityoftherapyinpostacuterehabilitation
AT boissypatrick accelerometerbasedwirelessbodyareanetworktoestimateintensityoftherapyinpostacuterehabilitation