A Novel Joint Angle Measurement System to Monitor Hip Movement in Children with Hip Diseases

Abstract

Children’s hip diseases are an umbrella term to define different conditions (e.g. Perthes’ disease; hip dysplasia) that affect the hip bone during the first months or years after birth. Assessing the degree of hip stiffness is important in the management of the disease, but to date there is no system able to continuously monitor hip angle in children. We aimed to characterize a novel wearable joint angle monitoring system able to collect data during the day in everyday life to assess hip mobility in children with hip diseases. We developed a flexible sensor embedded in a microcontroller based device, including an external SD card to store data. Preliminary data collected by the sensor shows its feasibility into monitor hip flexion/extension (SEM of ±0.20°) during daily tasks. The preliminary results support moving forward with the prototype and improving its wearability, validating it in a wider study.