Postural control assessment via Microsoft Azure Kinect DK: An evaluation study.
Empirical studies
Microsoft Azure Kinect
Postural control
Vicon 3D
Journal
Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
ISSN: 1872-7565
Titre abrégé: Comput Methods Programs Biomed
Pays: Ireland
ID NLM: 8506513
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Sep 2021
Sep 2021
Historique:
received:
09
03
2021
accepted:
25
07
2021
pubmed:
11
8
2021
medline:
15
9
2021
entrez:
10
8
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Equipments generally used for entertainment, such as Microsoft Kinect, have been widely used for postural control as well. Such systems-compared to professional motion tracking systems-allow to obtain non-invasive and low-cost tracking. This makes them particularly suitable for the implementation of home rehabilitation systems. Microsoft has recently released a new version of Kinect, namely Azure Kinect DK, that is meant for developers, not consumers, and it has been specifically designed to implement professional applications. The hardware of this new version of the Kinect has been substantially improved as compared with previous versions. However, the accuracy of the Azure Kinect DK has not been evaluated yet in the context of the assessment of postural control as done for its predecessors. We present a study to compare the motion traces of the Azure Kinect DK with those of a Vicon 3D system, typically considered the gold standard for high-accuracy motion tracking. The study involved 26 subjects performing specific functional reach and functional balance exercises. The results clearly indicates that the Azure Kinect DK provides a very accurate tracking of the main joints of the body for all the recording taken during the lateral reach movement. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the two tracking systems obtained is approximately 0.2 for the lateral and forward exercises while for the balance exercise it is around 0.47 considering the average of the results among all the joints. The angular Mean Absolute Error is approximately in the range 5-15 degrees for all the upper joints and independently on the exercise. The lower body joints show a higher angular error between the two systems. Not surprisingly, it was found that results are much better in correspondence of slow movements. The results achieved that the Azure Kinect DK has an incredibly high potential to be used in applications of home rehabilitation, where the assessment of postural control is a fundamental and crucial activity.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
Equipments generally used for entertainment, such as Microsoft Kinect, have been widely used for postural control as well. Such systems-compared to professional motion tracking systems-allow to obtain non-invasive and low-cost tracking. This makes them particularly suitable for the implementation of home rehabilitation systems. Microsoft has recently released a new version of Kinect, namely Azure Kinect DK, that is meant for developers, not consumers, and it has been specifically designed to implement professional applications. The hardware of this new version of the Kinect has been substantially improved as compared with previous versions. However, the accuracy of the Azure Kinect DK has not been evaluated yet in the context of the assessment of postural control as done for its predecessors.
METHODS
METHODS
We present a study to compare the motion traces of the Azure Kinect DK with those of a Vicon 3D system, typically considered the gold standard for high-accuracy motion tracking. The study involved 26 subjects performing specific functional reach and functional balance exercises.
RESULTS
RESULTS
The results clearly indicates that the Azure Kinect DK provides a very accurate tracking of the main joints of the body for all the recording taken during the lateral reach movement. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the two tracking systems obtained is approximately 0.2 for the lateral and forward exercises while for the balance exercise it is around 0.47 considering the average of the results among all the joints. The angular Mean Absolute Error is approximately in the range 5-15 degrees for all the upper joints and independently on the exercise. The lower body joints show a higher angular error between the two systems. Not surprisingly, it was found that results are much better in correspondence of slow movements.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
The results achieved that the Azure Kinect DK has an incredibly high potential to be used in applications of home rehabilitation, where the assessment of postural control is a fundamental and crucial activity.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34375852
pii: S0169-2607(21)00398-9
doi: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2021.106324
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
106324Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of Competing Interest Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.