PNF and Movement 2023; 21(2): 171-183
https://doi.org/10.21598/JKPNFA.2023.21.2.171
Reliability Analysis of Finger Joint Range of Motion Measurements in Wearable Soft Sensor Gloves
Eun-Kyung Kim, P.T., Ph.D.1†⋅Jin-Hong Kim, P.T., Ph.D.1⋅Yu-Ri Kim, R.N., M.S.1⋅ Ye-Ji Hong, B.S., M.S.1⋅Gang-Pyo Lee, R.M., M.S.1⋅Eun-Hye Jeon, O.T.2⋅ Joon-bum Bae, Ph.D.3,4⋅Su-in Kim, Ph.D.4⋅Sang-Yi Lee, Ph.D.5
1Rehabilitation Medical Research Center, Incheon Hospital, Korea Worker’s Compensation & Welfare Service
2Rehabilitation Medicine, Incheon Hospital, Korea Worker’s Compensation & Welfare Service
3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
4Feel the Same, Inc.
5Department of Philosophy in Public Administration, Catholic University
Correspondence to: †Eun-Kyung Kim (kek74ing@naver.com)
Received: April 19, 2023; Revised: June 8, 2023; Accepted: June 13, 2023; Published online: August 31, 2023.
© Korea Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Association. All rights reserved.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare universal goniometry (UG), which is commonly used in clinical practice to measure the range of motion (ROM) of finger joints with a wearable soft sensor glove, and to analyze the reliability to determine its usefulness.
Methods: Ten healthy adults (6 males, 4 females) participated in this study. The metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP), interphalangeal joint (IP), and proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) of both hands were measured using UG and Mollisen HAND soft sensor gloves during active flexion, according to the American Society for Hand Therapists’ measurement criteria. Measurements were taken in triplicate and averaged. The mean and standard deviation of the two methods were calculated, and the 95% limits of agreement (LOA) of the measurements were calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman plot to examine the reliability and discrepancies between the measurements.
Results: The results of the mean values of the flexion angles for the active range of motion (AROM) of the finger joints showed large angular differences in the finger joints, except for the MCP of the thumb. In the inter-rater reliability analysis according to the measurement method, the ICC (2, 1) value showed a low level close to 0, and the mean difference by the Bland–Altman plot showed a value greater than 0, showing a pattern of discrepancy. The 95% LOA had a wide range of differences.
Conclusion: This study is a preliminary study investigating the usefulness of the soft sensor glove, and the reliability analysis showed a low level of reliability and inconsistency. However, if future studies can overcome the limitations of this study and the technical problems of the soft sensor glove in the development stage, it is suggested that the measurement instrument can show more accurate measurement and higher reliability when measuring ROM with UG.
Keywords: Finger joints, Range of motion, Wearable soft sensor

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