Cyber-Physical System based E-Health: Knee Joint Physical Therapy Monitoring

Abstract

A cyber-physical system (CPS) uses sensors/actuators to associate the physical world with a system capable of computing. CPSs include software systems, communication technologies, and sensors/actuators, including intelligent embedded system technologies to interact with the real world. It is possible to monitor and control all physical processes without human factors by connecting the mechanical systems equipped with information technologies and establishing communication among themselves. In this study, a CPS system that offers a cost-effective and easy-to-apply physical therapy opportunity is proposed for post-hospital home follow-up of knee osteoarthritis, which can be seen in many people over a certain age. The proposed system consists of a hardware module consisting of two potentiometers, a microcontroller and a WiFi module, and a software module to monitor the movement of the knee joint point daily and to save the data in the database. Maximum knee flexion angle, exercise duration and success rate measurements were used to measure the progress of physical therapy. The CPS prototype developed for the healthcare field will make significant contributions to reducing the duration of physical therapy and increasing its reliability by eliminating the possibility of wrong/incomplete exercises.