title: Wearable kinesthetic system for capturing and classifying upper limb gesture in post-stroke rehabilitation.
abstract: BACKGROUND: Monitoring body kinematics has fundamental relevance in several biological and technical disciplines. In particular the possibility to exactly know the posture may furnish a main aid in rehabilitation topics. In the present work an innovative and unobtrusive garment able to detect the posture and the movement of the upper limb has been introduced, with particular care to its application in post stroke rehabilitation field by describing the integration of the prototype in a healthcare service. METHODS: This paper deals with the design, the development and implementation of a sensing garment, from the characterization of innovative comfortable and diffuse sensors we used to the methodologies employed to gather information on the posture and movement which derive from the entire garments. Several new algorithms devoted to the signal acquisition, the treatment and posture and gesture reconstruction are introduced and tested. RESULTS: Data obtained by means of the sensing garment are analyzed and compared with the ones recorded using a traditional movement tracking system. CONCLUSION: The main results treated in this work are summarized and remarked. The system was compared with a commercial movement tracking system (a set of electrogoniometers) and it performed the same accuracy in detecting upper limb postures and movements.
authors.affiliation: Interdepartemental Research Centre "E, Piaggio", University of Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, Pisa, Italy. a.tognetti@ing.unipi.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tognetti
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lorussi
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bartalesi
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quaglini
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tesconi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zupone
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Rossi
references.citation: Neurol Sci. 2000 Feb;21(1):5-12
references.pmid: 10938196
references.citation: J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2004 Oct 26;1(1):5
references.pmid: 15679916