Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera

Low-cost, portable RGB-D cameras with integrated body tracking functionality enable easy-to-use 3D motion analysis without requiring expensive facilities and specialized personnel. However, the accuracy of existing systems is insufficient for most clinical applications. In this study, we investigate...

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Main Authors: Nikolas Hesse, Sandra Baumgartner, Anja Gut, Hubertus J. A. van Hedel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10057424/
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author Nikolas Hesse
Sandra Baumgartner
Anja Gut
Hubertus J. A. van Hedel
author_facet Nikolas Hesse
Sandra Baumgartner
Anja Gut
Hubertus J. A. van Hedel
author_sort Nikolas Hesse
collection DOAJ
description Low-cost, portable RGB-D cameras with integrated body tracking functionality enable easy-to-use 3D motion analysis without requiring expensive facilities and specialized personnel. However, the accuracy of existing systems is insufficient for most clinical applications. In this study, we investigated the concurrent validity of our custom tracking method based on RGB-D images with respect to a gold-standard marker-based system. Additionally, we analyzed the validity of the publicly available Microsoft Azure Kinect Body Tracking (K4ABT). We recorded 23 typically developing children and healthy young adults (aged 5 to 29 years) performing five different movement tasks using a Microsoft Azure Kinect RGB-D camera and a marker-based multi-camera Vicon system simultaneously. Our method achieved a mean per joint position error over all joints of 11.7 mm compared to the Vicon system, and 98.4&#x0025; of the estimated joint positions had an error of less than 50 mm. Pearson&#x2019;s correlation coefficients <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ranged from strong (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> =0.64) to almost perfect (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}&gt;$ </tex-math></inline-formula>0.99). K4ABT demonstrated satisfactory accuracy most of the time but showed short periods of tracking failures in nearly two-thirds of all sequences limiting its use for clinical motion analysis. In conclusion, our tracking method highly agrees with the gold standard system. It paves the way towards a low-cost, easy-to-use, portable 3D motion analysis system for children and young adults.
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spelling doaj-art-f08347cbcd0a4ed18ca5f7e2ca407ce52025-08-20T01:52:02ZengIEEEIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering1534-43201558-02102023-01-01311943195110.1109/TNSRE.2023.325144010057424Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D CameraNikolas Hesse0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1141-0614Sandra Baumgartner1Anja Gut2Hubertus J. A. van Hedel3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9577-5049Swiss Children&#x2019;s Rehab, University Children&#x2019;s Hospital Zurich, Affoltern am Albis, SwitzerlandSwiss Children&#x2019;s Rehab, University Children&#x2019;s Hospital Zurich, Affoltern am Albis, SwitzerlandSwiss Children&#x2019;s Rehab, University Children&#x2019;s Hospital Zurich, Affoltern am Albis, SwitzerlandSwiss Children&#x2019;s Rehab, University Children&#x2019;s Hospital Zurich, Affoltern am Albis, SwitzerlandLow-cost, portable RGB-D cameras with integrated body tracking functionality enable easy-to-use 3D motion analysis without requiring expensive facilities and specialized personnel. However, the accuracy of existing systems is insufficient for most clinical applications. In this study, we investigated the concurrent validity of our custom tracking method based on RGB-D images with respect to a gold-standard marker-based system. Additionally, we analyzed the validity of the publicly available Microsoft Azure Kinect Body Tracking (K4ABT). We recorded 23 typically developing children and healthy young adults (aged 5 to 29 years) performing five different movement tasks using a Microsoft Azure Kinect RGB-D camera and a marker-based multi-camera Vicon system simultaneously. Our method achieved a mean per joint position error over all joints of 11.7 mm compared to the Vicon system, and 98.4&#x0025; of the estimated joint positions had an error of less than 50 mm. Pearson&#x2019;s correlation coefficients <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ranged from strong (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> =0.64) to almost perfect (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${r}&gt;$ </tex-math></inline-formula>0.99). K4ABT demonstrated satisfactory accuracy most of the time but showed short periods of tracking failures in nearly two-thirds of all sequences limiting its use for clinical motion analysis. In conclusion, our tracking method highly agrees with the gold standard system. It paves the way towards a low-cost, easy-to-use, portable 3D motion analysis system for children and young adults.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10057424/ChildrenKinect3D motion trackingRGB-DVicon
spellingShingle Nikolas Hesse
Sandra Baumgartner
Anja Gut
Hubertus J. A. van Hedel
Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
Children
Kinect
3D motion tracking
RGB-D
Vicon
title Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
title_full Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
title_fullStr Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
title_full_unstemmed Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
title_short Concurrent Validity of a Custom Method for Markerless 3D Full-Body Motion Tracking of Children and Young Adults Based on a Single RGB-D Camera
title_sort concurrent validity of a custom method for markerless 3d full body motion tracking of children and young adults based on a single rgb d camera
topic Children
Kinect
3D motion tracking
RGB-D
Vicon
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10057424/
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AT anjagut concurrentvalidityofacustommethodformarkerless3dfullbodymotiontrackingofchildrenandyoungadultsbasedonasinglergbdcamera
AT hubertusjavanhedel concurrentvalidityofacustommethodformarkerless3dfullbodymotiontrackingofchildrenandyoungadultsbasedonasinglergbdcamera