8th International Conference on Body Area Networks

Research Article

A BSN based service for post-surgical knee rehabilitation at home

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.bodynets.2013.253679,
        author={Laura Contin and Roberto Nerino and Giuseppe Massazza and Walter Gon\`{e}alves da Silva Pinto and Maria Vittoria Actis and Patrizia Capacchione and Antonio Chimienti and Giuseppe Pettiti},
        title={A BSN based service for post-surgical knee rehabilitation at home},
        proceedings={8th International Conference on Body Area Networks},
        publisher={ACM},
        proceedings_a={BODYNETS},
        year={2013},
        month={10},
        keywords={knee rehabilitation inertial measurement unit functional calibration orientation estimation complementary filters tele-rehabilitation joint coordinate system joint angle anterior cruciate ligament},
        doi={10.4108/icst.bodynets.2013.253679}
    }
    
  • Laura Contin
    Roberto Nerino
    Giuseppe Massazza
    Walter Gonçalves da Silva Pinto
    Maria Vittoria Actis
    Patrizia Capacchione
    Antonio Chimienti
    Giuseppe Pettiti
    Year: 2013
    A BSN based service for post-surgical knee rehabilitation at home
    BODYNETS
    ACM
    DOI: 10.4108/icst.bodynets.2013.253679
Laura Contin1,*, Roberto Nerino2, Giuseppe Massazza3, Walter Gonçalves da Silva Pinto1, Maria Vittoria Actis3, Patrizia Capacchione3, Antonio Chimienti2, Giuseppe Pettiti2
  • 1: Telecom Italia
  • 2: CNR-IEIIT
  • 3: Università degli Studi di Torino
*Contact email: laura.contin@telecomitalia.it

Abstract

The paper illustrates a prototype of an end-to-end service to support unassisted rehabilitation of motor functions. The core of the developed solution is a system able to analyze the patient movements during the execution of the prescribed exercises. The motion analysis relies on real-time evaluations of biomechanical parameters, derived from inertial and magnetic data provided by a wireless body sensor network, worn by the patient while he is doing his exercises. The method uses an approach based on complementary filters and addresses a number of challenges, such as compensating the incorrect positioning of motes and managing perturbations of the Earth magnetic field. Besides, the solution provides the patient with a number of “coaching functions”, aimed at helping him in getting the best from his training at home, and with a videoconferencing tool to be used whenever the direct evaluation of the therapist is needed. Although this system can have a wider application field, in this work the focus is on the knee rehabilitation after the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, in order to demonstrate the suitability of this solution to address specific clinical requirements. Preliminary results on this case study are provided.