Investigating the Feasibility of Inertial Sensor Based Objective Measures of the Forward Lunge

Motor control is characterised as the ability to initiate, direct and grade purposeful voluntary movement. Alterations to motor control result in reduced capacity to regulate movement and subsequently can lead to an increased risk of injury. Functional movement screening is commonly used by clinicians to identify alterations in motor control. They are used to develop treatment strategies and to evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies. The forward lunge is a functional movement that challenges multiple components of motor control. Incorporated into various functional screening tools the forward lunge is an evaluative movement to assess an individual’s risk of incurring lower limb musculoskeletal injury. Traditionally there are two distinct ways to assess the forward lunge; the first is in a laboratory setting using objective high tech biomechanical equipment and the second is in a clinical setting using subjective visual interpretation. Both of these have inherent disadvantages. The high tech systems are expensive, restricted to a laboratory, time intensive and require specialist training to operate and interpret. Clinical subjective evaluation has potential for bias and poor reliability secondary to rater experience and an inability to assess multiple components simultaneously. Recent advances in technology has presented inertial sensors as a potential solution, capable of providing objective measures of motor control beyond the laboratory and into clinical settings. However there is limited research evaluating their ability to reliably and validly quantify the forward lunge. This programme of research focuses on investigating the feasibility of inertial sensor based objective measures of the forward lunge. Presenting an overview of the previous research in the area and investigates the reliability (intra-session) and validity (discriminant) of inertial sensor based objective measures of the forward lunge. The findings of this work provide preliminary evidence to suggest that shank mounted inertial sensor derived variables can provide consistent reliable measures of the forward lunge and that those quantified forward lunge (QFL) variables are sensitive to change. These results lay the foundation for future research to further evaluate the QFL variables in a clinical context.