Real time visualization of asymmetrical sitting posture

Abstract Asymmetrical sitting posture (ASP) affects the body mechanics and puts various body segments under strain which may lead to health problems including musculoskeletal pain, low back pain and spinal deformity resulting increased care costs. The tools and methodologies used to assess human posture are often arbitrary and studied by physicians, physiotherapists and researchers in clinical settings. For example, clinical scales such as the Posture Index or Postural Assessment Scale are subjective or semi-subjective, based on visual observation and require clinical expertise to identify asymmetry. More objective gold standard methods such as Motion Capture Systems rely on access to expensive complex equipment based in laboratories. These are not widely available for several reasons including, scarcity of equipment, need for technical staff, time consuming procedures and overall expense. Therefore, there is a need for a low cost, portable automatic posture monitoring system which would help address this challenge. We develop an automatic ASP monitoring system to provide real time visualization and information about sitting posture. We build flexible pressure sensor (FPS) at six different locations on a chair to collect pressure information using piezoresistive conductive film. The collected data from FPSs are then transferred to a smartphone application using Bluetooth. We develop a dedicated Android App to collect FPSs reading and provide real time visualizations of information. The results show that FPS can be used for objective monitoring of sitting posture. It can also be utilized to provide useful information about patients with pelvic asymmetry in rehabilitation medicine. Our system would significantly simplify the sitting posture monitoring protocols and open possibilities for office, school and home based assessment and support for posture improvement. Furthermore, results from this study will be used to develop a new quantitative posture measurement tool for clinical use.

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