Continuous assessment of posture in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

A battery-powered posture measurement system has been developed to continuously monitor the topographical features of adolescents who have idiopathic scoliosis. The system consists of an electromagnetic measurement system and a microcomputer data acquisition system. The polar coordinates of up to 8 receivers relative to the transmitter can be determined. Laboratory tests showed that the maximum distance error was 0.5 cm and the maximum angle error was 5 degrees in the range of 30 to 47 cm. A preliminary clinical trial proved that the system was able to detect and record postural position on a subject.