Using the Kinect™ to Measure Changes in Arm Movement After Stroke
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using the Microsoft Kinect™ to Measure Changes in Arm Movement during Rehabilitation after Stroke: An Observational Case Series Study
IRAS ID
129369
Contact name
Alyson Warland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Homerton University Hospital
Research summary
This observational (case-series) study aims to evaluate the validity of using the Kinect™ to measure arm movement changes in stroke patients receiving rehabilitation. The study will collect data from the CE-marked Microsoft Kinect™ to evaluate whether it can detect movement changes in the arm affected by the stroke and to what extent the detected changes correlate with conventional outcome measures.
This study is considered important because:
• Standardised outcome measures usually guide clinical interventions; however, evidence suggests that these do not effectively measure changes to arm movements, which could result in ineffective clinical resource allocation.
• Studying movement (referred to as kinematics) can facilitate the evaluation of post-stroke changes in arm movement.
• Kinematics can provide detailed measurements of change and are increasingly utilised to evaluate clinical interventions due to accuracy.
• The Kinect™ has the potential to objectively evaluate arm movements. Although it is a gaming console, it is increasingly utilised in healthcare, as it is an economical, user-friendly alternative to expensive kinematic measurement instruments.
• To date, there are no studies investigating whether the Kinect™ can measure arm movements in stroke patients.This study will recruit 6-8 stroke patients (2–26 weeks post-stroke) receiving in-patient rehabilitation incorporating treatment for their affected arm at Homerton University Hospital. Currently, the validated Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) is administered with this patient group at this site. This study will incorporate the Kinect™ as an additional measure to evaluate kinematics of four arm movements performed by the participants. The study will utilise a pretest-posttest design, allowing the administration of both measures pre-treatment and 6-weeks later. Statistical analysis will evaluate the level of correlation between changes in kinematic variables detected using the Kinect™ and the ARAT. This study aims to contribute to the growing body of evidence evaluating the Kinect’s™ clinical use in objectively measuring outcomes.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/EM/0385
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion