Validation and clinical Implementation of novel devices analysing physical activity and range of motion in the setting of spine surgery
type: CreativeWork
description: The following thesis examines the implementation of objective methods to measure patient physical capabilities within the spine surgery setting. With a broad aim to introduce accurate and robust assessment tools that are not influenced by subjective patient factors and experiences our methods have been devised after a wide literature search to examine the current state-of-play. Following this literature review two separate arms have been conducted, one in the clinical setting on a large scale using affordable and accurate devices while a second arms aim’s to examine range-of-motion as a potential outcome measure. The latter arm within the scope of the thesis is limited to a validation study with 2 separate emerging technologies; an inertial based sensor system and a digital goniometer. Together these two arms pave way for clinicians not just in the spine surgery setting to employ similar assessment methods in aims to achieve safe, affordable, remote and objective measures of patient outcome. Briefly we have been able to validate the digital goniometer for clinical use, while our accelerometer data is promising for use in the large volume outpatient setting.
abstract: The following thesis examines the implementation of objective methods to measure patient physical capabilities within the spine surgery setting. With a broad aim to introduce accurate and robust assessment tools that are not influenced by subjective patient factors and experiences our methods have been devised after a wide literature search to examine the current state-of-play. Following this literature review two separate arms have been conducted, one in the clinical setting on a large scale using affordable and accurate devices while a second arms aim’s to examine range-of-motion as a potential outcome measure. The latter arm within the scope of the thesis is limited to a validation study with 2 separate emerging technologies; an inertial based sensor system and a digital goniometer. Together these two arms pave way for clinicians not just in the spine surgery setting to employ similar assessment methods in aims to achieve safe, affordable, remote and objective measures of patient outcome. Briefly we have been able to validate the digital goniometer for clinical use, while our accelerometer data is promising for use in the large volume outpatient setting.
author: Maharaj, Monish
language: EN
keywords: Neurosurgery, Spine Surgery, Wearable devices, Patient assessment
license: https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:33:31Z
provider: University of New South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: UNSW, Sydney

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/71035

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.26190/unsworks/22663