Using Motion Sensors to Support Seating and Positioning Assessments of Individuals with Neurological Disorders

Appropriate postural control can inhibit involuntary movements caused by neurological disorders. Physical and occupational therapists assess individuals with neurological disorders for recommending seating and positioning settings. This paper presents a system to support the therapists by providing acceleration, angular velocity, activity logs and video clips of touch panel operations. The system was used for assessing ten individuals. Root-mean-square values of acceleration and angular velocity of eight body sites reached 83.7% and 74.4% agreement with therapists’ ratings of involuntary movements. Therapists suggested that the data obtained from the system was satisfactory in accuracy and useful for confirming their decisions.