A Glove-Based Form Factor for Collecting Joint Acoustic Emissions: Design and Validation

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Joint sounds (crepitus) offer insights into joint health, morphology, and loading.
• Non-invasive acoustic/vibrational signal acquisition is crucial for joint assessment.
• Conventional methods for capturing joint sounds can be cumbersome and require consumables.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel instrumented glove with a fingertip-mounted accelerometer for acquiring knee joint acoustic/vibrational signals.
• To compare the efficacy of the glove-based approach against traditional mounting techniques.
• To assess the feasibility of using this novel method for monitoring joint loading.

Main Methods:

• An instrumented glove with a fingertip accelerometer was developed for non-invasive joint sound acquisition.
• The glove's performance was validated against tape and foam microphone pads.
• Healthy subjects (N=11) performed vertical leg presses to alter knee joint loading while signals were recorded.

Main Results:

• The instrumented glove demonstrated a highly consistent, monotonic, and significant increase (p < 0.01) in low-frequency signal root-mean-squared (RMS) amplitude with increasing vertical load.
• This increase in RMS amplitude, indicative of joint grinding loudness, was observed across all tested mounting techniques.
• The glove-based approach showed comparable results to conventional methods, suggesting its suitability.

Conclusions:

• The instrumented glove represents a viable, non-invasive alternative for capturing knee joint acoustic/vibrational signals.
• This novel method eliminates the need for consumables like tape and reduces associated interface noise.
• The glove-based approach shows promise for reliable joint sound analysis and monitoring of joint loading conditions.