Wearable inertial sensors for human motor impairment evaluation aimed at supporting objective medical diagnosis and enhancing rehabilitation therapy outcomes

Currently the evaluation of movement disorders is mainly based on clinical scales and on data collected from questionnaires. However, this approach has many disadvantages. The data reported by the patient are distorted by multiple subjective factors. The clinical scales instead have little reliability since biased by the rater, influenced by the experience and by the a priori expectations, and are not sensitive enough for detecting small changes. Wearable inertial sensors are able to transform some physiological and kinematic characteristics (such as speed and amplitude) into quantitative variables allowing a more reliable assessment, patient monitoring and, therefore, a reduction of clinical trial costs. The objective of the work is to provide a methodology on how to use wearable sensors in diagnostics, in the evaluation of the efficacy of therapies and in the development of devices capable of improving the quality of life of patients, demonstrating their feasibility and sensitivity on several motor disorders. The validity of the proposed methodology has been demonstrated in case studies of totally different patients, as in the case of pediatric patients suffering from motor control disorders and / or hyperactivity, and the case of adult patients with Parkinson's disease.