“Despite its predominant use among survey respondents, smartphone technology is not commonly used for measuring outcomes in orthopedic trauma literature. Their use is mainly limited to remote imaging and case assessment, determination of range of motion, relaying training information, and fall risk determination.”
“Despite its predominant use among survey respondents, smartphone technology is not commonly used for measuring outcomes in orthopedic trauma literature. Their use is mainly limited to remote imaging and case assessment, determination of range of motion, relaying training information, and fall risk determination.”
Barriers and challenges to further adoption of wearable technology in orthopedic trauma care
The greatest perceived obstacles to clinical use were cost, validity, and patient compliance. Considering that most patients in many areas already own smartphones, the additional cost of implementing app-based monitoring technology is very low. According to the survey, more difficult impediments to overcome are questions relating to user data and validity:
“Questions about data availability, validity, and safety of acquisition still need to be addressed. Current reviews regarding wearable assisted measurement of activity and fall risk show that, while many different systems are available, few have clear standards regarding which parameters need to be monitored to obtain clinically relevant outcomes.”
Resolving these issues will require dedicated research, although the survey authors are confident that the presented analysis can help guide this young field towards more accurate, low-cost wearables with improved patient acceptance.
For further information details, please refer to the survey publication:
Wearable technology in orthopedic trauma surgery – An AO Trauma survey and review of current and future applications
Injury, Volume 53, Issue 6, June 2022, Pages 1961-19
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