Feasibility and Reliability of a Commercially Available Stretch-Sensitive Sensor for Neck Movement

The ability to move the neck is usually a good indicator of neck health. However, the tools currently available to measure neck range of motion rely on gravity and the clinician\u27s ability to accurately line the instruments on specific landmarks of the body. This study explored whether a commercially available wearable sensor, C-Stretch® that is flexible and lightweight can capture the functional performance of cervical motion across testing sessions. Furthermore, an assessment of the C-Stretch® against Aurora NDI, an electromagnetic tracking system was explored to determine the feasibility of transforming raw capacitance data into degrees of motion. Finally, a survey explored the user’s experience with C-Stretch®. The C-Stretch® was able to monitor cervical motion across testing with good reliability for the Bag-Lift and poor reliability for the Bag-Slide and Star task (ICC2,1 0.57, 0.39, 0.37), respectively. The systems accuracy and agreement for rotational neck motion were evaluated. The C-Stretch® showed high correlation (r = 0.90-0.99, p \u3c 0.01) for areas of overlap and was accurate for both sessions with average RMSE values of 5.06° (95% C.I = 0.30° to 10.10°) for the first session and 5.34° (95% C.I = 0.10° to 10.79°) for the second session with respect to the electromagnetic tracking system. Overall, users tolerated the C-Stretch® and did not find it uncomfortable. This study highlights the feasibility of using wearable stretch sensors that are light, unobtrusive and comfortable for assessing functional performance of the cervical spine