Kam Wern, O'Keeffe Mary, O'Sullivan Kieran, Mohammed Waleed S, O'Keeffe Sinead, Lewis Elfed, Viphavakit Charusluk
Optical Fibre Sensors Research Centre (OFSRC), Dept. of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland.
School of Allied Health, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland.
Materials (Basel). 2019 Mar 6;12(5):762. doi: 10.3390/ma12050762.
This study aims to investigate the validity and reliability of a novel plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor, which was developed to measure the angles of flexion, extension and lateral bend at the lumbar region. The angles of flexion, extension and lateral bend for a standing position were measured simultaneously using both the novel POF sensor of this investigation and the commercial Biometrics goniometer instrument. Each movement had two steps of bending which were 10° and 20° based on inclinometer readings. The POF sensor had good intra-rater reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.61 to 0.83). Bland⁻Altman plots were used to study the agreement using these two sensors. There were proportional differences and bias between the POF sensor and Biometrics goniometer, as the zero points did not lie in the percentage difference region in the Bland⁻Altman plots. The proportional difference between these two likely reflects the different sizes and thus, measurement regions of the two sensors. There was also strong correlation between the two sensors (r > 0.77). Hence, the POF sensor could be of potential utility in measuring lumbar range of motion (ROM) in a manner which is minimally invasive, and where discrete sections of the spine are under specific investigation.
本研究旨在调查一种新型塑料光纤（POF）传感器的有效性和可靠性，该传感器是为测量腰椎区域的前屈、后伸和侧弯角度而开发的。使用本研究中的新型POF传感器和商用生物识别测角仪同时测量站立位的前屈、后伸和侧弯角度。基于倾角仪读数，每个动作有两个弯曲步骤，分别为10°和20°。POF传感器具有良好的评分者内可靠性（组内相关系数，ICC = 0.61至0.83）。使用Bland⁻Altman图来研究这两种传感器之间的一致性。POF传感器和生物识别测角仪之间存在比例差异和偏差，因为零点不在Bland⁻Altman图的百分比差异区域内。这两者之间的比例差异可能反映了两种传感器的不同尺寸，从而也反映了测量区域的不同。两种传感器之间也存在很强的相关性（r > 0.77）。因此，POF传感器在以微创方式测量腰椎活动范围（ROM）方面可能具有潜在用途，特别是在对脊柱特定节段进行具体研究时。
