Accuracy of the Microsoft Kinect sensor for measuring movement in people with Parkinson's disease

The Microsoft Kinect sensor (Kinect) is potentially a low-cost solution for clinical and home-based assessment of movement symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to establish the accuracy of the Kinect in measuring clinically relevant movements in people with PD.

Nine people with PD and 10 controls performed a series of movements which were measured concurrently with a Vicon three-dimensional motion analysis system (gold-standard) and the Kinect. The movements included quiet standing, multidirectional reaching and stepping and walking on the spot, and the following items from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale: hand clasping, finger tapping, foot, leg agility, chair rising and hand pronation. Outcomes included mean timing and range of motion across movement repetitions.