A wearable mobility assessment device for total knee replacement: A longitudinal feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Total knee replacement (TKR) lacks objective metrics for patient assessment and follow-up.
• Current methods are insufficient for optimizing patient outcomes in the peri-operative period.
• Patients and healthcare providers need better tools for managing TKR recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of using an ear-worn motion sensor (e-AR) for objective, home-based mobility assessments.
• To explore the potential of e-AR sensor data for profiling patient recovery and detecting complications.
• To investigate the use of sensor-derived data in supplementing surgical decision-making and community-based follow-up.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 14 TKR patients and 15 healthy controls.
• Collected data using the e-AR sensor during functional mobility tests and activity protocols pre-operatively and at multiple post-operative time points (1-24 weeks).
• Extracted sensor motion data features to assess performance and predict recovery phases.

Main Results:

• Sensor-derived mobility trends correlated with clinical measures, enabling individual recovery profiling.
• The e-AR sensor successfully detected a patient complication.
• Classification of subjects into distinct recovery groups (normal, pre-operative, 24-week post-operative) achieved 89% median accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The e-AR sensor provides a novel, objective method for peri-operative mobility assessment.
• This technology can supplement surgical decision-making.
• It facilitates objective, community-based follow-up for total knee replacement patients.