Project Overview

Falls are the leading cause of death in older individuals over the age of sixty-five [1]. For 20-30% of older patients suffering from falls, there are associated injuries including bruises, hip fractures, and head traumas [2]. Falls also place a financial burden on society, with medical costs for older individuals reaching $30 billion in 2012 and anticipated to rise to $67 billion by 2020 [3]. These expenses indicate a strong need to assess the muscle function in geriatric patients. The current protocol for muscle function testing is the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) test. While this test can improve a patient’s muscle function, it is time consuming and costly because a trained clinician is required to administer the testing. Microsoft Kinect was introduced as a way to standardize muscle function testing by tracking the patient’s movement. In order to validate Kinect’s use in a clinical setting, an elbow brace with an attached rotary encoder will be used to dynamically measure the patient’s joint angles in real time. These values will be compared with those generated in Kinect to assure its accuracy of motion detection. Beyond muscle testing, the accuracy of Kinect is important for other applications such as stroke rehabilitation and physical therapy.

[1] Fuller, G. (2000). Falls in the elderly. Am Fam Physician 61:2159-2168.
[2] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs344/en/
[3] Englander F, Hodson TJ, Terregrossa RA. (1996). Economic dimensions of slip and fall injuries. Journal of Forensic Science 41(5):733–46.

Team Picture

Contact Information

Team Members

• Haley Knapp - Team Leader
• Madison Boston - Communicator
• Laura Xu - BSAC
• Laura Wierschke - BWIG & BPAG

Advisor and Client

• Dr. Ed Bersu - Advisor
• Dr. Bjoern Buehring - Client

Related Projects

• Spring 2015: Measurement validation of joint angles for Kinect
• Fall 2014: Measurement of muscle function and balance to assess risk of falling