Wrist motion assessment using Microsoft Azure Kinect DK: A reliability study in healthy individuals

Background: Motion analysis systems have been widely used in orthopedics and rehabilitation for diagnostics, patient monitoring and outcome evaluation purposes. Since Microsoft Azure Kinect Developer Kit (DK) had been released, only a few studies were published concerning its usage. However, it has not been used for wrist motion assessments, even though the use of standardized examinations with known reliability, validity and responsiveness remains a constant challenge.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the reliability of hand and forearm range of motion (ROM) measurements recorded using new software utilizing the Microsoft Azure Kinect DK.

Material and methods: Twenty-eight healthy males and 28 healthy females participated in measurements of active ROM for wrist extension, wrist flexion, radial deviation, ulnar deviation, and forearm supination and pronation on 3 separate occasions. Sessions 1 and 2 were carried out on the same day with a 90-minute rest period between each session, while the 3rd session was conducted a week later. Data were recorded simultaneously in both limbs using a custom-made software developed by a software development company (Oleksy Medical & Sports Sciences, Łańcut, Poland) for the purposes of the present study using Microsoft Azure Kinect DK. The assessment of intra-day and inter-day reliability was based on intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) calculations and interpreted based on commonly used guidelines.

Results: In the group of males, the lowest ICC was 0.846 for intra-day comparisons and 0.816 for inter-day analyses. In the female group, the lowest ICC for intra-day comparisons was 0.826 and exceeded 0.833 for inter-day comparisons.

Conclusions: The developed software using Microsoft Azure Kinect DK demonstrated high reliability in measuring wrist and forearm active ROM. These promising results support the use of Microsoft Azure Kinect DK in a clinical capacity as a potential hand assessment and rehabilitation tool.