An analysis of wrist and forearm range of motion using the Dartfish motion analysis system

Clinical measurement. Wrist range of motion (ROM) is considered the universal measurement of success for both surgical and non-surgical treatments. A goniometer can be challenging for an individual to use by themselves, whereas the Dartfish app can analyze and provide immediate feedback to monitor and evaluate patients’ kinematic changes during recovery after injury. To establish the validity and reliability of the Dartfish app measuring ROM to be used in clinical applications. Twelve healthy participants, (18-25 yrs) , with no previous history of wrist injuries, were recruited for this study. Flexion/extension, radial/ulnar deviation, and supination/pronation range of motion measures were collected using a goniometer (two-arm) and Dartfish video analysis. Statistical analyses, such as t-tests and the Pearson correlation coefficient, as well as reliability analyses, such as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots, were performed. There was no significant difference between the goniometer and Dartfish ROM measurements except for ulnar deviation. The concurrent validity showed nearly perfect correlations between examiners using Dartfish with r-values in the range 0.90-0.99, and between examiner2 and the goniometer showed medium, large, and very large correlations since the values were in the range 0.418-0.829. The ICC for test-retest reliability had an excellent agreement that ranged from 0.993-0.999, and the ICC values for inter-observer reliability had good and excellent agreement, which were in the range 0.893-0.997. Overall, the results demonstrated that the Dartfish app was a reliable and valid method to measure wrist and forearm ROM. A patient would be able to easily record their own ROM measurement videos and track their progress during their recovery without the need of their physician to track their progress. •This paper compares ROM measures obtained using the Dartfish software (app) to the measurements made using the goniometer, which is the current gold standard for wrist and forearm ROM measurements.•It was hypothesized that the Dartfish measurements would agree with the goniometer measurements.•It was also hypothesized that the intraobserver and interobserver reliability would be high for the Dartfish app.