Assessing the Accuracy of the Azure Kinect for Telerehabilitation After Breast Cancer Surgery

Background: Rehabilitation plays a key role in the recovery of upper
extremity function after breast cancer surgery. Motion capture (mocap) systems for
serious gaming have shown the potential to enable home-based rehabilitation, but
clinical accuracy needs to be examined. Objectives: Validation of markerless mocap
systems for telerehabilitation after breast cancer surgical intervention. Methods: The
accuracy of the markerless mocap device Azure Kinect in detecting compensatory
movements and postural disturbances has been compared to a gold standard
Optitrack system in five volunteers. Subsequently, a serious game for mocap-based
shoulder exercises has been developed and integrated into a telerehabilitation
platform. Results: The Azure Kinect shows good reliability for scapular elevation
(ICC >0.80; MAE <2.1 cm) and trunk tilt (ICC=0.88; MAE=5°), moderate
reliability for rounded shoulders (ICC=0.51; MAE=2.6cm) and poor reliability for
kyphosis angle (ICC=0.22; MAE=18°). Conclusion: The Azure Kinect provides
reasonable performance for shoulder rehabilitation. The proposed telerehabilitation
platform has been tested by rehabilitation specialists and received positive feedback.