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Scapular Motion Tracking Using Acromion Skin Marker Cluster: In Vitro Accuracy Assessment

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Abstract

Several studies have recently investigated how the implementations of acromion marker clusters (AMCs) method and stereo-photogrammetry affect the estimates of scapula kinematics. However, in the large majority of these studies, the accuracy assessment of the scapular kinematics obtained with AMCs was carried out through a comparative evaluation using a scapula locator that is prone to error. The present study assesses AMC accuracy based on best practice recommendations, both with single and double anatomical calibration implementations, during several passive shoulder movements. Experiments were carried out on three cadaveric specimens. The scapula motion was acquired with a stereo-photogrammetric system using intra-cortical pins. When the scapula kinematics was estimated using an AMC combined with a single anatomical calibration, the accuracy was highly dependent on the specimen and the type of motion (maximum errors between –6.2° and 44.8°) and the scapular motion was generally overestimated. Moreover, with this implementation, scapular orientation errors increased for shoulder configurations distant from the reference shoulder configuration chosen for the calibration procedure. The double calibration implementation greatly improved the estimate of the scapular kinematics for all specimens and types of motion (maximum errors between –1.0° and 14.2°). The double anatomical calibration implementation should be preferred since it reduces the kinematics errors to levels which are acceptable in most clinical applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Medical Advisory Committee for Major League Baseball (AJR and AN) and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA (AN and AJR) for funding this project. They would like to gratefully acknowledge the Swiss National Science Foundation for providing funding to Drs. Claudio Rosso for his work on this project.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Information Engineering Unit, POLCOMING Department, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

      Andrea Cereatti & Ugo Della Croce

    2. Orthopaedic Department, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

      Claudio Rosso

    3. Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

      Claudio Rosso & Ara Nazarian

    4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

      Joseph P. DeAngelis & Arun J. Ramappa

    5. Department of Information Engineering, Political Sciences and Communication Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale Mancini 5, 07100, Sassari, Italy

      Andrea Cereatti

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    1. Andrea Cereatti
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    2. Claudio Rosso
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    3. Ara Nazarian
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    Correspondence to Andrea Cereatti.

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    Andrea Cereatti and Claudio Rosso these authors have contributed equally to the work.

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    Cereatti, A., Rosso, C., Nazarian, A. et al. Scapular Motion Tracking Using Acromion Skin Marker Cluster: In Vitro Accuracy Assessment. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 35, 94–103 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-015-0010-2

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