Sensor evaluation for tracking upper extremity prosthesis movements in a virtual environment

The use of virtual reality technology in the field of amputee rehabilitation is in its earliest stages of development. A virtual environment (VE) will facilitate the early rehabilitation of a patient before they are clinically ready to be fitted with an actual prosthesis. Success will be defined by delivering accurate position and orientation data of the arm to the virtual environment. We have applied an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a linear displacement sensor to a prosthetic arm to track its movement in a virtual environment. Preliminary results show that even with advances in MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensor technology integration error is likely too significant to make an IMU an acceptable choice for position measurement.