Humerus length estimation using a magneto-inertial sensor

In recent years, the use of inertial sensor technology in the field of human motion analysis has taken an increasingly important role. Despite the rapid technological advances, the reliability of kinematic quantities could be still critical for specific applications in the field of functional evaluation and rehabilitation. Within this context, the definition of personalized musculoskeletal kinematic models is crucial in order to describe the movement in a reproducible and accurate manner. A key step for the kinematic model calibration is the determination of bone segment lengths. The present study proposes a functional approach for the in-vivo estimation of the humerus length using a magneto-inertial measurement unit (MIMU). The accuracy of the method was evaluated based on the humerus length computed from the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as reference values.