Inertial Measurement Units for shoulder functional assessment in telerehabilitation systems: a preliminary study

The use of Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) as sensors in wearable devices for human movement monitoring helps the development of remote rehabilitation systems. Pathologies of musculoskeletal system can affect the execution of the basic activities of daily living (ADL), hence in rehabilitation treatments it is important to also evaluate functional gestures related to ADL execution. In this work, we assess the capability of an IMU-based device to detect abnormalities in motor patterns of the shoulder joint during the execution of functional movements. Results from a preliminary assessment suggest good possibilities of detecting differences in motor patterns. The final direction of this work should be to integrate the findings in a telerehabilitation system as an indicator of functionality of the shoulder joints.