Validation of Low-Cost IMUs for Telerehabilitation Exercises

Telerehabilitation, a specialized domain within telemedicine, supports remote physical rehabilitation and progress monitoring. Wearable sensors can improve this service by providing reliable monitoring of movement parameters, offering objective information into patients’ rehabilitation sessions. This study presents the development and validation of a telerehabilitation system including a rehabilitation protocol, low-cost wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) and a set of metrics descriptive of movement capacity to analyze rehabilitation exercises. Eleven medically stable elders (9 females, 2 males; age: 72.6 ± 5.0 years; height: 1.66 ± 0.09 m; mass: 67.8 ± 9.8 kg) performed 12 rehabilitation upper/lower limb and trunk exercises. Movement analysis was conducted using a prototypical IMU sensor and commercially available IMU as a reference. Each exercise was automatically segmented into single repetitions, from which selected metrics were computed. Bland–Altman analysis was performed to evaluate measurement agreement and consistency between the systems across all parameters. Results indicate acceptable measurement agreement for key rehabilitation metrics, including movement quantity, accelerations intensity, and movement smoothness. However, angular velocity and movement stability reveal technical limitations requiring refinement prior to clinical implementation. Balancing measurement reliability and affordability of telerehabilitation system remains a crucial factor to offer an effective service to individuals with diverse health conditions.