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‘DIGITS’ app - smartphone augmented reality for hand telerehabilitation
Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging and Visualization
  • Hongdao Dong, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
  • Edward Ho, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
  • Herbert Shin, The University of Western Ontario
  • Tania Banerjee, The University of Western Ontario
  • Geoffrey Masschelein, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
  • Jacob Davidson, London Health Sciences Centre
  • Sandrine de Ribaupierre, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
  • Roy Eagleson, The University of Western Ontario
  • Caitlin Symonette, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1080/21681163.2021.1998927
Abstract

Hand telerehabilitation currently has limitations for accurate and remote assessment of range of motion (ROM) in small finger joints. ‘DIGITS’ application utilises the front smartphone camera to measure finger ROM in a reliable and rapid assessment protocol. Our initial beta-phase testing examined the consistency of our software measurements to in-person goniometry. 6 to 9 degrees of difference existed between the smartphone application recorded data versus the in-person measurements. This range is within acceptable 7 to 9 degree tolerance for interrater goniometry measurements. The effect of environmental factors such as hand distance, lightings and hand orientation was evaluated. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.98–0.98 for finger extension and 0.78–0.81 for finger flexion recorded across different environmental conditions. Overall, ‘DIGITS’ provides an augmented reality tool to generate reliable finger ROM tracking for hand telerehabilitation. ‘DIGITS’ has the potential to transform hand therapy and improve our knowledge of hand pathology recovery.

Citation Information
Hongdao Dong, Edward Ho, Herbert Shin, Tania Banerjee, et al.. "‘DIGITS’ app - smartphone augmented reality for hand telerehabilitation" Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging and Visualization (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jacob-davidson/4/