Assessing human movement and performance are essential parts of rehabilitation to determine the severity of injuries or painful conditions affecting the individual client. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness or progression of treatments or exercises. Qualitative assessment methods are often used to evaluate the quality of movement, such as when rotating the neck or lifting the arm. Here, healthcare professionals use the naked eye to assess the movement; how far the body part can move (range of motion) and how smooth the movement is. In some cases, objective assessment methods are used to measure movement in e.g. joints by using handheld goniometers. Although such methods can be better than using the naked eye, their accuracy is limited which questions their feasibility.
MOTI is a new wearable device developed by Moti ApS in collaboration with Apex Fysio in Aalborg (Denmark) and researchers at Aalborg University. MOTI enables accurate assessment of patients with musculoskeletal pain and loss of function using highly standardized, high-end algorithms By doing so, it is possible to capture e.g. subtle changes in control of movements, which may manifest as slow movement, reduced range of motion and decreased ability control the affected body part. However, the downside similar wearables is that they are usually expensive, time-consuming and requires considerable expertise to operate. The idea behind MOTI was to address these challenges by developing a measurement a affordable, user-friendly wearable that would present clinical test outcomes immediately after it had been performed.
What can I use MOTI for?
To date, the technology behind MOTI has been tested and compared with gold standard 3D-kinematic analysis and robotics. MOTI can be used to measure several aspects of movement:
· Range of motion
· Speed of motion
· Quality of movement (How smooth the movement is aka. “Jerkiness”)
· Joint repositioning
These parameters are highly interesting and relevant in clinical practice. However, accurate monitoring of patients’ progression / regression is difficult without a device like MOTI.
What have the tests shown?
The results from the preliminary testing are very positive. Below is a figure showing recordings with MOTI and a 3D-camera system from a head movement. The figure shows that MOTI (blue line) and the 3D-camera (red dotted line) almost overlap each other perfectly and indicating that they are recording the same. The results of the entire study is currently under review in a scientific journal….stay tuned for future updates once the study is published.
