Ring-shaped wearable device for logging finger usage in daily life

Abstract

To verify the feasibility of rehabilitation inter-vention, quantitative assessment by comparing the rate of paralyzed limb usage in daily activities between before and after an intervention is crucial. However, questionnaires and/or interview-based assessments are generally used for the purpose in most of the rehabilitation hospitals. For this aim, we developed a ring-shaped wearable device for logging hand and finger usage in daily life. Twelve participants took part in the experiments to validate the proposed device. We firstly conducted the experiment to evaluate the finger angle estimation ability of the device. Second, we observed the accumulated values of finger angle difference and wrist acceleration under six distinct upper extremity tasks in daily living, and then investigated the relationship between sensor values and behaviors. First experiment demonstrated that the device realized accurate finger angle estimation (mean absolute error was 3.34± 1.54deg) compared with previous studies. Moreover, the second experiment revealed that the device has the ability to discriminate various daily behaviors, e.g., wiping a table and folding a handkerchief (p<0.01). These results suggest that the proposed device is helpful for the medical doctors and therapists to understand recovery status of the patients.