ReviewSports medicine - open2018
Measurement of Upper Limb Range of Motion Using Wearable Sensors: A Systematic Review.
Review in Sports medicine - open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Motion Tracking of Daily Living and Physical Activities in Health Care: Systematic Review From Designers' Perspective.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Intraoperative Angle Measurement of Anatomical Structures: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Conversion of Upper-Limb Inertial Measurement Unit Data to Joint Angles: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Digital Devices for Assessing Motor Functions in Mobility-Impaired and Healthy Populations: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- The Reliability of the Microsoft Kinect and Ambulatory Sensor-Based Motion Tracking Devices to Measure Shoulder Range-of-Motion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- Wearable Health Devices in Health Care: Narrative Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Pooled it
- Validity and Reliability of Wearable Sensors for Joint Angle Estimation: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Pooled it
- Pragmatic single center longitudinal study assessing radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy for patients with severe mental and physical disabilities.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Accuracy of visual estimation of shoulder abduction by expert physiotherapists: a comparative study using 3D motion capture.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Comparison of hip and knee range of motion measurements using Azure Kinect and a digital goniometer in elite female weightlifters.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Machine Learning Methods in Posture-Related Applications in Children up to 12 Years Old: A Systematic Review.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Validity, reliability, and user perspectives of the newly developed joint angle measurement system: a preliminary study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Assessment of Elbow Proprioception with Inertial Measurement Units-Validity and Reliability Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Holistic Approach Towards Evaluating Upper Limb Function in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Narrative Review of Clinical Tools and Promising Technologies for Comprehensive Assessment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Validation of a Commercially Available IMU-Based System Against an Optoelectronic System for Full-Body Motor Tasks.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- CHMMConvScaleNet: a hybrid convolutional neural network and continuous hidden Markov model with multi-scale features for sleep posture detection.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Key Fundamentals and Examples of Sensors for Human Health: Wearable, Non-Continuous, and Non-Contact Monitoring Devices.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Azure Kinect for joint range of motion analysis: A validity and reliability evaluation in elite female weightlifters.PloS one · 2025Article
- Validity Analysis of Monocular Human Pose Estimation Models Interfaced with a Mobile Application for Assessing Upper Limb Range of Motion.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWearable sensors are portable measurement tools that are becoming increasingly popular for the measurement of joint angle in the upper limb. With many brands emerging on the market, each with variations in hardware and protocols, evidence to inform selection and application is needed. Therefore, the objectives of this review were related to the use of wearable sensors to calculate upper limb joint angle. We aimed to describe (i) the characteristics of commercial and custom wearable sensors, (ii) the populations for whom researchers have adopted wearable sensors, and (iii) their established psychometric properties.
methodsA systematic review of literature was undertaken using the following data bases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, IEEE, and Scopus. Studies were eligible if they met the following criteria: (i) involved humans and/or robotic devices, (ii) involved the application or simulation of wearable sensors on the upper limb, and (iii) calculated a joint angle.
resultsOf 2191 records identified, 66 met the inclusion criteria. Eight studies compared wearable sensors to a robotic device and 22 studies compared to a motion analysis system. Commercial (n = 13) and custom (n = 7) wearable sensors were identified, each with variations in placement, calibration methods, and fusion algorithms, which were demonstrated to influence accuracy.
conclusionWearable sensors have potential as viable instruments for measurement of joint angle in the upper limb during active movement. Currently, customised application (i.e. calibration and angle calculation methods) is required to achieve sufficient accuracy (error < 5°). Additional research and standardisation is required to guide clinical application.
trial registrationThis systematic review was registered with PROSPERO ( CRD42017059935 ).
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.