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Updated: Jul 8, 2025
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Video Movement Analysis Using Smartphones ViMAS: A Pilot Study
Published on: March 14, 2017
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Contactless hand tremor amplitude measurement using smartphones: development and pilot evaluation
Summary
This study developed a smartphone video method to objectively measure hand tremor amplitude. This technology offers a practical tool for diagnosing and monitoring neurological diseases by providing accurate tremor assessments.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Vision
- Neurology
Background:
- Physiological tremor is involuntary shaking, a key symptom in neurological diseases.
- Current clinical assessment of tremor amplitude and frequency is subjective and lacks reliability.
- Objective and accurate methods for hand tremor assessment are clinically needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a proof-of-principle method for measuring hand tremor amplitude using smartphone videos.
- To create a computer vision pipeline for objective tremor analysis.
Main Methods:
- A computer vision pipeline extracted hand points to create a 1-D movement time series in pixels.
- Smartphone depth measurement converted pixel data to real distance units.
- Accuracy was validated against a slide rule using simulated tremors and Bland-Altman analysis.
Main Results:
- The method demonstrated good agreement with a gold-standard measurement (bias: 0.04 cm, 95% limits of agreement: -1.27 to 1.20 cm).
- The approach showed robustness to limited hand occlusion.
- Measurements were accurate across various distances (50-100 cm) and skin tones.
Conclusions:
- Smartphone videos can be used to accurately measure hand tremor amplitude.
- This objective measurement, combined with frequency analysis, can aid in diagnosing and monitoring neurological conditions.
