Flexible And Attachable Inertial Measurement Unit (Imu)-Based Motion Capture Instrumentation For The Characterization Of Hand Kinematics: A Pilot Study

This article reports a flexible and attachable inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based motion capture system for the accurate measurement of hand kinematics. Twelve 6-axis IMUs are used in the system for capturing hand kinematics and analyzing continuous hand movements. Each IMU is bonded to a flexible adapter and then attached to the back of the hand. Compared with traditional glove-based hand motion capture systems, the proposed system is firmly attached to the back of the hand without any position deviation, and there is no influence on the user's touch sensation when gripping an object. Moreover, due to the flexible adapters used in the system, the proposed system is suitable for different sizes of hands or various hand motions. Finally, the proposed system was used in badminton to capture hand kinematics for a pilot study. It was verified that the system is superior to traditional glove-based systems and may be used to precisely and rapidly monitor hand movement.